Simple Indian Recipes...
Delicious and healthy dishes that can be made even by first timers.

Vazhaithandu Payasam (Banana Stem Kheer)

 Published 2016-Feb-22   Updated 2017-Dec-03

- Submitted by Dahlia

(Banana Stem Payasam, Vazhapindi Pradhaman, Banana Stem Pudding)

Have you ever thought of making kheer or payasam with banana stalk? I'm sure many of you might not have even heard of it. Even I didn't have a clue about this payasam until I tasted it once in a Malayalee wedding. Malayalees are very fond of making varieties of payasam as part of their sadya meal. They are capable of making an excellent payasam with pretty much any vegetable or fruit.

I was pleasantly surprised the very first time I tasted banana stem payasam. The banana stem has a natural crunch which tastes so good with the creamy coconut milk. Moong dal and sago are added to give the thickness to the payasam. If you plan to make a North Indian style kheer, you can cook the banana stem pieces in milk and sweeten with sugar. In South India, payasam is mostly made with coconut milk and sweetened with jaggery. Either way you make, I'm sure you will enjoy the dish. So here is the recipe that I followed to make my banana stem payasam.

Ingredients

  • Banana stem - 1 cup (chopped)
  • Moong dal - 3 tbsp
  • Sago – 3 tbsp
  • Thin coconut milk – 2 cups
  • Thick coconut milk – 1/2 cup
  • Water – 2 cups
  • Jaggery/ Sugar – ½ cup
  • Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
  • Dry ginger powder – ¼ tsp
  • Ghee – 3- 4 tbsp
  • Cashews – 7-8
  • Raisins – 1 tbsp

Method

  1. Take the sago and moong dal in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the water and cook it on medium flame for 10 minutes.
  2. Add the chopped banana stem and the thin coconut milk. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes.

    Vazhathandu Payasam Steps

  3. Add the jaggery/sugar to this. I usually prefer the taste of jaggery for payasam but you can make with sugar too. If the jaggery has impurities, melt it in a separate sauce pan, strain it and then add it to this. In this picture, I've made the payasam with sugar since I did not have jaggery on hand. There is a picture that I clicked some time back when I had made with jaggery below.

    Vazhathandu Payasam Steps

  4. Continue cooking till it thickens to the right consistency. At this stage add the thick coconut milk.

    Vazhathandu Payasam Steps

  5. Add 2 tbsp of ghee, cardamom powder and dry ginger powder. Mix everything, cook for just a minute and switch off.
  6. Heat the remaining ghee in a small pan and toast the cashews and raisins. Add this to the payasam. Tasty payasam (kheer) is ready to serve.

    Vazhathandu Payasam Steps

Serving Suggestion

  • Banana Stem Payasam (Pradhaman/Kheer) can be served either hot or cold as a dessert. You can make this any day for an evening snack or for some occasions.
  • In South Indian sadhya, payasam is typically served after a meal. After enjoying the payasam, people have some moru and rice.

Variation

  • As I have mentioned before, banana stem payasam can be made using either sugar or  jaggery. You can choose as per your taste buds. Vazhaithandu payasam made with jaggery will be brownish in color and the one  made with sugar will be whitish in color. See the photos below.

Vazhaithandu Payasam With Jaggery

Vazhathandu Payasam

Vazhaithandu Payasam With Sugar

Vazhathandu Payasam

More Banana Stem Recipes

Banana Stem Cutting & Cleaning Banana Stem Cutting & Cleaning Banana Stem Pickle Banana Stem Pickle Banana Stem Juice Salt / Sweet Banana Stem Juice Banana Stem Mor Kootu Banana Stem Mor Kootu
See more...


Post a new comment

2000 Characters left
Name
Your name will be displayed next to your comment.
Email
Email will NOT be displayed publicly.
Cancel       Save Comment

Comments (0)


Post Comment


 Published by on and last updated on 2017-12-03.