Rice Payasam (Dussera Prasad)

Ingredients:

• Cooked rice- 1 cup
• Cow milk- 1 1/2 cup
• Jaggery- 1 1/4 cup, grated
• Ghee- 1 tsp+ 1 tsp
• Cashews- 4-6 broken
• Raisins- 6-8 (washed)
• Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Boil the cow's milk in a heavy bottom vessel once and turn off the heat.
2. To that add the cooked rice (it can be hot) and mix well so that there are no lumps. 
3. Turn on the heat and keep it in simmer.
4. Stir to avoid burning at the bottom of the vessel.  
5. As the mix starts to thicken stir continuously and turn off the heat when the milk is almost soaked by the rice. 
6. It will take about 10-15 minutes in total. Take it off the heat and set aside to cool.
7. Meanwhile in a smaller pan add 1tsp ghee and cashews. 
8. As the cashews start to turn golden, add the raisins. Turn off the heat when the raisins start to swell. 
9. Let the rice mixture cool down for 5 minutes.
10. Now add the cardamom powder to the payasam and mix well. 
11. Next add jaggery and mix for about 2 minutes, till the jaggery completely melts into the payasam. 
12. Now finally add the roasted nuts, 1 tsp ghee and mix well.
13. Serve either hot or cold. 

Notes: 

1. Only cow's milk is used to make this payasam for prasad. 
2. Do not add water to the milk.
3. Do not add jaggery to hot milk as it will split the milk. Stir the rice mix to let off the steam after cooling it for at least 5 minutes.
4. It can be served either hot, cold or at room temperature.
5. It can be thick or runny. The choice is yours.
6. If you want to add raw rice grains to the milk and cook, you can do that as well.
7. Just make sure you add very little grains. About 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp will be sufficient for 1 1/2 cup of milk.