21 March, 2007

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

Its spring time in India and the magic touch of spring makes everything look so beautiful. I can imagine mango trees dressed up like brides with garland of flowers and fruits swinging to the tunes of cool breeze. Farms and fields all set for harvesting. Kids ready to wind up their final exams and eagerly waiting for summer holidays to spend at granny’s place. Young lovers walking on the red and crimson carpets of newly fallen delicate gulmohar flowers. The air is filled with joy, enthusiasm and gaiety. Ah!!! Heaven on earth…

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

This is the time when we celebrate the beginning of new era. According to Hindu calendar, Ugadi is the beginning of new lunar calendar. Vedas say that the creator of the World, Lord Brahma started creation on this day of Ugadi. It is very auspicious for Hindus all around the world as we celebrate the new year. Ugadi comes close on the heels of Holi, the festival of colours. While the bright colours of Holi starts to fade away, the freshness of spring lingers on all around. The trees with bright red flowers that blossom during Holi are in full bloom signifying the spring in full blossom.

In Karnataka Ugadi is celebrated by offering Bevu-Bella, which is Neem buds/leaves for bitterness and Jaggery for sweetness. They symbolize the fact that life is a mixture of pleasure and pain and they both should be in equilibrium for happy life. For more information on ugadi click here.

I made Kharjura(Dates) Payasa for Neivedya(offering to God). It is a simple yet very delicious dish which is my hubby’s all time favorite payasa. I am posting this recipe for my best friend Archu who is in Dubai and very soon gonna make me Chikki/Aunty (I want a sweet, lovely niece like you, ok? :) This is for you sweetie with all our good wishes and love. Cant wait to hold little Archie in my arms:)

Kharjura(Date) Payasa


Kharjura(Date) Payasa
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients:
1 cup Dates, deseeded
1 cup Coconut Milk, freshly sqeezed
1 cup Water
½ - ¾ cup Jaggery (Adjust acc to taste)
¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
Few Cashew Nuts, fried to golden in Ghee

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

Method:
Chop dates into small bite size pieces and cook them in ½ glass of water till they become soft. It usually takes 8-10 minutes in medium flame.
Drain the remaining water and keep it aside.
Cool these cooked dates before grinding them to rough, coarse paste without adding any water.
Take ½ cup of water in heavy bottomed pan and add this date mixture to it.
To this add thin coconut milk, jaggery and keep stirring in medium heat.
When it starts boiling add cardamom powder and cashew nuts and cook further for 2-3 minutes.
Serve it hot or chilled and enjoy.

Kharjura(Date) Payasa


Did You Know?

Date, name for a palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and for its edible fruit.
Probably native to Arabia and North Africa, it has from earliest times been a principal food in many desert and tropical regions.
For some 4,000 years it has been grown near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It is cultivated in many other warm regions, including parts of the SW United States and Mexico.
The trees sometimes reach a height of 100 ft (30.5 m) and yield fruit for generations.
taminate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers are borne on separate trees, and pollination of those grown commercially is usually done by hand.
In the Old World, a sugar and a fermented drink are made from the sap of the date palm and other species of Phoenix, and the seeds are sometimes roasted and used as a coffee substitute or pressed for oil, leaving a residue useful for stock feed.
The wood of the trunk is often used in construction and the leaves are used for weaving mats and baskets.
Dates are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Arecales, family Palmae. (Source:www.factmonster.com)

45 comments :

  1. The date payasa looks absolutely fabulous. The pinapply meesakai looks tempting too. I'm going to try it this weekend.
    Happy ugadi to you and oyur family.

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  2. beautiful spoon and serving dish, sia. i love dates, will definitely try this. btw can i use regular milk instead of coconut milk? i can imagine the mix of dates, jaggery, elaichi wow! love the music!!!!

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  3. Suppi,
    Date and berati payasa are my all time fav as well. An rajja bere type madudu idra but love it. Yummmm. Adakke enna maduvege and engagement inge yeradakkude karjura payasa madsiddu hee heee. Entha ninna online kandidille indu?

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  4. hi supriya
    Happy ugadi to u and ur family..
    Date payasam is looking yummy!!

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  5. Finally! I get to see the Krishna spoon! Lovely....I like the Ganesh one better though. :)

    Payasam looks wonderful...and that too with dates, what a flavor combo that is!

    Mango brides...... Good imagery, Supriya!

    hugs,trupti

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  6. I have heard about this payasa before, but never tried. It looks so delicious. Now that you have posted a detailed recipe, I will try it sometime. Thanks dear.

    Wish you and your family a very happy Ugadi.

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  7. what comments??? did they disappear or what?

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  8. Supriya,

    The payasam looks pure and divine with the ambience around it...Great photos and great recipes...I have some dates which I am not eating at all...may be I can try them this way. Thanks for t recipe!!

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  9. Hey! My blog roll just showed this,I was happy to come here thinking I will be the first!Apparently NOT!:D

    Anyway,Krishna spoon and the dish is more delicious than the Karjura dish.Payasa sounds yummy and what a great info.Male and female karjuras and hanky panky and Voila, mini Karjuras!!;D

    Archana is your best friend from India?Didn't know that and she is having baby Archu? Didn't know that?

    Well..when is little K or little S coming?! Am I the only the old coot around here!!:D:D

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  10. Love those pretty Ganesha and Krishna spoons. Also the other matching bronze/brass? pieces.
    Delicious karjura payasa to start the new year.

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  11. Beautiful presentation dear with that royal spoon...the date payasam is new to me and I am sure it would please my sweet toooth a lot...

    Very Very Beautiful pictures...also All the best for your friend with her pregnancy...:-)

    -Sushma
    http://www.sunkiran.com

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  12. Hi Sups,

    Payasa looks awesome and tempting...i'm try this sure, it got good source of Iron(date and jaggery).

    I liked you lovely traditional presentation...

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  13. Date payasam is new to me..They look good with those spoon..Happy Ugadi to u and ur family.

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  14. This dish must be tasting heavenly, with dates and coconut milk in it. Sups your presentation is looking very festive n nice, with the brass diya ,spoon and the bowl :)
    I admire you for celebrating all your festivals and traditions abroad :)
    Yes mango brides? hmmm...nice
    where is the bridegroom ? hee...eee :))))))))

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  15. Hi Supriya,
    Nice presentation!!! Healthy and Iron Rich Payasam Thanks for sharing.

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  16. Sia..such a beautiful pic...no words to explain..i am drooling here...i liked the pot and the deepam alot..Date payasam is new to me..looks delcious.

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  17. Its the first time I'm coming across date payasam recipe. And my mouth is watering. The presentation is beautiful, I loved the Krishna spoon. :) Here in Dubai, we get dates all the time, so will try your payasam.

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  18. Ah, this must be the date payasa you mentioned to me.. ;-) Looks regal with those cashews!

    Hey, to add on to your trivia, did you know that "tamarind" comes from the Arabic word "Tamr Hindi", which means "Indian date"? :) got that from a Middle Eastern cookbook!

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  19. @mandira,
    thanks girl:) oh, do let me know how u liked them:) hope u like them.

    @richa,
    thanks richa. u can use thick milk instead of coconut milk. i have tried both the ways and concluded that the combination of coconut milk with jaggary and dates is the best.

    @seema,
    ennadudu. i dont like sweets that much aata. but berati and dates payasa is something i cant resist;)
    i did mesg u but didnt get any reply on yahoo.

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  20. @swapna,
    thank u for ur wishes swapna and wish u the same:)

    @trupti,
    same here:) i too like the ganesh spoon better:) so gonna buy one next time when i go india. hopefully i should be able to find one:)

    @shilpa,
    its usually made in south canara shilpa. i guess u too r from there. its a wonderful combination of coconut milk and jaggary. very aromatic and tasty. do let me know when u try this:)

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  21. @trupti,
    i cant find my comments in ur last 2 posts:( donno how they vanished. is it just me or someone else had same prob?

    @younus,
    i made it as neivedyam for god younus. when i was a small kid, it was quite difficult for me to wait till my dad finished pooja:)
    do try it if u not using those dates for anything else:) hope u like it.

    @ashakka,
    he he he...so u liked the bowl n spoon more? ;)
    ha ha ha...hanky panky... he he...
    this is differnt archana, not the archana from food blogs:) my best friend from high school and PU.
    and no idea when little K or S r coming;) not for some more time though:) we r kids, so i dont think we can handle any other kid for sometime:)

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  22. @manjula,
    thanks dear:) they r my fav too:)

    @sushma,
    thank u dear:) i am really glad to know that u liked them:)
    will pass ur wishes to my friend. thank u so much:)

    @usha,
    u r right! high source of iron content. and what not to like? its very very tasty too. i love it when its chilled:)

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  23. @prema,
    thank u girl for ur wishes. hope u had gr8 time too:)

    @archu,
    it was for ugadi and obviously it should look festive too right?;) i am really happy that u liked it:)
    festivals like this bring us beautiful memories and makes us feel close to our home land. so i try to clebrate most of the festivals just to enjoy what it offers:)
    groom for the bride? now why i didn't think abt it?;)

    @MT,
    thank u dear for ur lovely words:)

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  24. @mahi,
    oh!!! i am so glad to know this:) dont keep drooling girl, go n make this payasa. unlike other sweet dishes it takes less than 20 minutes to make this.

    @jyothsna,
    i am really glad to know that u get to know a new type of payasa:) u r from dubai? then u dont have any excuse as not to try this:)

    @shilpa,
    yup. this is the one:) royal is the word:)
    wow i didn't know that tamarind comes froma rabic word. indian date? sour version of dates then:) thanks for the info girl:)
    now which is that middle eastern cookbook?:)

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  25. Date Payasam!!!!!! Looks absolutely yum!!!! :)

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  26. hi Sia, lovely presentation. wanted to let you know that the tree is spelled wrong in the second line. Pls correct it before anyone else notices. Just want to let you know. (wanted to help you out dont think otherwise).

    btw I loved the krishna spoon and the payasam. looks great and very rich.
    love
    sharmi

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  27. @coffee,
    thank u sweetie:)

    @sharmi,
    thanks girl:) i made the correction and dont hesistate to let me know abt something like this:) and i dont mind at all:)
    thank u for ur kind words:)

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  28. Hello,
    This is my first visit to ur blog.
    I got my way here thru another blog.
    I shd tell u,u have got an awesome blog,the pics and presentaion is marvellous.
    Will be a regular visitor.
    Have a nice day
    madhoori

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  29. @madhoori,
    a warm welcome to spice corner. i am glad to know u liked my blog. thank u very much for ur feedback. will see u around:)

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  30. Date Payasa looks so tempting. I never heard this type of payasa before...

    Madhavi.

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  31. Lovely post and lovely photos, Supriya, to go along with your lovely sentiments for your friend :) I haven't made a payasa -- with dates it sounds soooo rich!

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  32. Beautiful pictures of yummy looking payasam. I am imagining the taste sitting here...hmmm.

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  33. Never tried dates payasa. Thats look fabulous. Yummy :)

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  34. Wow the spoon, matte patre thumba chenagi idde.

    i love it.

    roopa

    heres my blog
    www.recipeofchoice.wordpress.com

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  35. @madhavi,
    thank u dear:) hope u try making this sometime in future:)

    @linda,
    it indeed is rich. very aromatic and packed with delicious flavours of dates, cocnut milk, jaggary and cardamom.
    usually for any functions back in my native we make 2 different payasas. first it is offered to god as neivedyam.

    @pravs,
    he he he... u r imagining how it will taste? common girl, its so easy to make this:)

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  36. @jasu,
    never tried? if u like sweets then u surely are missing something jasu dear:)

    @roopa,
    abba...igadru nimma web url baridralla:) spoon matte patre matra ishta agidda? he he he:)

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  37. Oh my God! what to write?!! Everything is nice.Spoon,serving dish and the Payasam..Here we will get best quality dates..I will try this.

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  38. Date is my favorite after coming to ME. This payasam looks so nice. will try sometime. Used to prepare with nuts always. Viji

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  39. Dear sia,
    I fell in love with this dish at first sight.I make only dates milkshake but this is a new recipe for me to try. Good write-up and fabulous picture. So sweet of you to do this for your friend.

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  40. @KF,
    i guess u have written enough fairy;) do let me know how u like it sweetie:)

    @viji,
    payasa with nuts? now i want that recipe:)

    @kribha,
    he he he...so fell in love with this? date payasa is a traditional recipe in our household kribha.

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  41. Just wanted to let you know your site , photography and recipes are superb!!!!. No words to express that, but just one thing you have too many pictures in one recipe. I saw this one has a good 6 pictures. Too many dont you feel.

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  42. @anon,
    thank u for ur feedback:) LOL... i got to tell u the secret. even i felt the same n now cut down the pics;) but when i try to capture a perfect pic from different angle and with different lighting, i end up getting confused as which one to post. then in the end, spice corner is not just a food blog to me. it is my diary where i jot down my thoughts and memories for future reference and i feel i do have complete right to express my feeling and post the pics i love. dont u agree with me?

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  43. I appreciate for posting my comment without deleting it. To frankly tell you each of your picture is excellent, but all look same, whichever angle to take. As i told you no words to express the beauty of your site. But you should just keep one. I am a photographer as well as a good cook.

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  44. @anon,
    i appreciate honest and frank opinions:) i dont get same kind of comments from other readers and i never thought abt pics in my blog. from ur comment i got to know that u r a photographer and u love to cook. i consider myself to be ameture when it comes to taking pics and i would greatly appreciate if u can leave ur blog/website id if u have one so that i can learn a gr8 deal from u.

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  45. Just saw this at Jugalbandi. Very yummy - nice option to use dates instead of jaggery!

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