Palada Pradhaman

Palada is one among  the very famous payasams in kerala. It is served on many occasions.
It tastes awesome and is one of my fav....

Ada - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1 nd 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Jaggery powder-2 tbsp
Cardamom Powder- 1/2 tsp
Ghee-1 tbsp
Cashew nuts  few
Condensed Milk-4 tbsp

1. Boil water.Soak the ada in that water for 45 min and then wash in cold water.
2. Now, into the cooker add milk, washed ada, sugar and cardamom powder. Keep in medium flame. After the first whistle, put the flame to low and let it whistle again once.
3. Open and check the ada.If it looks cooked(soft) transfer it to a pan and simmer till the milk becomes thick.During this process keep on stirring.When it becomes thick add the condensed milk and mix.
4. Once the payasam become medium thick and looks creamy,off the stove add jaggery,mix and keep aside.
5. Heat a pan, add 1 tbsp ghee and fry the split cashews. Pour this into the payasam.Mix well and serve.

Tips:
1. There are various varieties of ada,some thick,some thin,medium,home made etc.So cooking time differs for each.So if cooking in pressure cooker after two whistles check if it is cooked then only continue further.
2. Here jaggery is added to get a light pink shade.You can omit it as well.
3. Condensed milk gives a  little more creamy texture.See that you add sugar accordingly as it contains sweetness.You can omit this step too.
4. You can cook it in traditional way also.i.e; by cooking it in a vessel.Then time consumption is more. Nearly 1hr.If going for this method add sugar after ada is cooked.