This vegan pal payasam is a delicious, no-nonsense creamy rice and milk pudding. It is commonly made in South India, particularly in Kerala for the festival of Onam. Since rice is the staple grain in south India, it has several great recipes for salty as well as sweet. This payasam (also called kheer in Hindi) is going to be your favorite rice pudding from now on. It uses very simple and minimal ingredients but tastes so rich and decadent.
More about Pal Payasam
In India, a rice pudding has several names. the ones I’m familiar with are kheer (hindi) and payasam (malayalam and Tamil). Pal payasam literally translates to milk (paal) pudding of sorts (payasam). It is often written as Paal Payasam or referred or Rice Payasam or chawal ki kheer (kheer made of rice).
This vegan Pal Payasam is really the easiest Indian dessert that you can make. It literally involves only 4-5 ingredients – rice, soy milk, sugar, nuts, and dried fruit, flavored with cardamom– cooked down to a thick and creamy pudding of bliss.
Ingredients and extra additions for Vegan Rice Pudding
The name of this dish literally starts with milk. And my answer to dairy-based milk is always soy milk. It has a very similar nutrition profile with the perfect combination of fat and protein required to cook this payasam down and get that creamy rich consistency you get from regular milk. And no, it doesn’t taste any different but has the added benefit of containing no cholesterol and a happy cow. Win-win? 😉
When it comes to rice, the most traditional rice used in Kerala for pal payasam is Chemba pachari which isn’t something I find here in France. So I used Ponni rice. You can use any kind of short-grained white rice for this recipe. You may also sub with basmati rice which is what they use in North India for Kheer.
I use vegan ghee which is more common in the markets nowadays than before. But you can also just use deodorized coconut oil , avocado oil , or any other neutral oil to fry the nuts and dried fruit in.
Of course you can make this dessert as fancy as you want with additions like:
- Saffron strands
- Sliced almonds
- Chopped pistachios
- Rose water
- Ground nutmeg
How to make Vegan Pal Payasam
Basically, Rice Payasam is made with the slow cooking method. Simmering the Vegan Pal Payasam for a long time helps in developing complex flavors that make up for the simple ingredients.
- Start by washing the rice, covering it with water, and setting it aside.
- In a wide deep bottomed heavy pan pour in the water and the soy milk and bring to a slow boil.
- Once it comes to a boil add in the drained rice to the pan and let it cook on a medium flame.
- The milk mixture will slowly evaporate and reduce in volume by half after the 30-minute mark. After 1 hour and 10 minutes, the mixture would have acquired an off-white color and turned thick in consistency.
Now, Add in the sugar and ground cardamom seeds and mix well. Let it boil for 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the flame and set it aside.
- In a smaller pan, heat vegan ghee and add in the cashews and raisins. Fry on low flame until the nuts are slightly golden and then pour it on to the vegan pal payasam. Serve warm or cold.
I hope you make this for a special occasion or as a lovely treat for yourself! Do tag me on Instagram or comment down below if you do!
Try other delicious Indian desserts from the blog:
- Vegan Pear Halwa
- Vegan Gulab Jamun
- Vegan Kulfi – Indian Ice Cream
- Healthy Vegan Laddoos
- Vegan Ela Ada | The Best Healthy South Indian Dessert
Vegan Pal Payasam
Ingredients1x2x3x
For the base of the payasam
- 2 cups Soy milk (480 g)
- 3 cups Water (720 g) Milk to water ratio 2:3 by volume
- 1/4 cup Raw Rice (47 g)
- 1/3 cup Sugar (67 g)
- 4-5 Cardamom pods shelled and powdered fine
Tempering with nuts and dried fruit
- 2 tsp Vegan ghee sub with avocado oil, deodorized coconut oil or any other nuetral oil
- 8-10 cashew nuts halved
- 8-10 raisins
Instructions
- Wash the rice, cover with water and set aside.
- In a wide deep bottomed heavy pan pour in the water and the soy milk and bring to a slow boil.
- Once it comes to a boil add in the drained rice to the pan and let it cook on a medium flame.
- The milk mixture will slowly evaporate and reduce in volume by half after the 30 minute mark. After 1 hour and 10 minutes, the mixture would have acquired an off white colour and turned thick in consistency. At this point you can add 1/4 cup more soy milk to loosen it up if its too thick for you.
- Add in the sugar and ground cardamom seeds and mix well. Let it boil for 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved in. Turn off the flame and set aside.
- Heat vegan ghee and oil in a pan and add in the cashews and raisins. Fry on low flame until the nuts are slightly golden and then pour it on to the vegan pal payasam.
- Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!
Notes
- This vegan pal payasam can be stored in the refrigerator (in an air-tight container) for up to a week and enjoyed throughout the week.
- When cooled down, the payasam gets thicker. So make sure to cater to that when boiling down the payasam to your desired thickness.
Nutrition
This Healthy Boiled Peanut Salad is a popular South Indian street food that is commonly sold on beaches. It makes for a complete meal or a delicious and healthy snack, is relatively high in protein, and comes together in no time. Follow my easy-to-follow, step-by-step recipe with photos.
India is surrounded by the ocean and has GORGEOUS beaches. Unfortunately, a lot of these beaches aren’t fit for swimming in them. Don’t get me wrong, there are still beaches where you can swim in, so if you are looking for it, you will find it. In general, our beach culture growing up was visiting beaches with high currents, because it’s so fun to try and catch the waves and run away from them. The highlight was the street food they sell on the beaches. They sell different kinds of chaats ( traditional savory snacks sold by street vendors), icy drinks, and even chai.
Now, boiled peanut chaat is like the healthy sister of oil roasted peanut chaat. Both are commonly served in a newspaper cone and that screams nostalgia to me. That is how I was inspired to create this salad but also make it slightly better!
Ingredients and Substitutes for the Boiled Peanut Chaat/Salad
Peanuts: You need raw (as in non-roasted peanuts), with or without the skin. If you have a nut allergy, just replace this with chickpeas, sprouts, or any kind of cooked beans. Won’t be the same of course, but you gotta make it work for you 😉
Aromatics: Green chilies and chopped coriander/cilantro. You can skip out the green chili if you’ve got a baby mouth but I highly recommend it. Try to build your heat resistance slowly. You can add also use mint leaves in this salad. Vegetables: I highly recommend adding tomatoes, cucumber and red onion. You can add or remove any veg from this. You can add lettuce for more volume if this is a meal.
Seasoning and spices: Lemon juice, chaat masala, red chili powder, salt. You can add roasted cumin powder, some sumac, etc. Don’t overdo it though. Keeping the spices simple is the key to making this salad/chaat just right. Chaat masala is all you need sometimes.
Step by Step Guide to Make Boiled Peanut Salad
- The first step to making this boiled peanut salad is to slice up the cucumber and tomato and salt it. Salting draws out the moisture from these watery veggies and helps keep the salad crunchy. and less soggy even if you refrigerate it for a day. Set this aside for 30 minutes while you prep the peanuts.
- Then, wash the peanuts and then add enough water and salt to cook the peanuts. You can pressure cook for 12 minutes or boil in a pan for 25 minutes. If pressure cooked, wait for the pressure to naturally leave the cooker.
- Once the peanuts are cooked, it’s time to build the salad. Start by squeezing out the liquid from the vegetables through a sieve.
- Add the peanuts, cucumbers, tomatoes, chopped red onion, and green chili to a bowl.
- Then add the seasonings (red chili powder, chaat masala), a squeeze of lemon juice, and chopped coriander to this bowl. I don’t add salt yet because the peanuts and veg were salted. So taste the salad before adding salt to it.
- Toss everything and serve immediately. You can also refrigerate this and serve later.
Storage:
This salad lasts in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
It would make me so happy if you give this recipe a try! If you do, hit me up on Instagram or comment down below. I would love to hear what you think.
Check out other healthy street food recipes from the blog:
- Vegan Kathi Roll
- Vegan Yoghurt Toast – Spicy
- Baked Aloo Tikki – Crispy and Healthy
- Tofu masala sandwich
Boiled Peanut Salad
Ingredients1x2x3x
- 1 cup raw whole peanuts 125 g
- 1/4 cup Red onion chopped, finely about half an small onion
- 1/2 Cucumber, diced
- 1 Tomato, chopped
- 2 Green chilies, finely chopped optional
- 10 sprigs Coriander/Cilantro chopped
- 1/2 tsp Red chili powder
- 1 tbsp lime/lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp Chaat masala
- 2 tsp salt divided
Instructions
- Add the tomatoes and cucumbers in a large bowl, add 1 tsp salt to this and toss well. Let this rest for 30 minutes to draw out the liquid from it. This step is optional but highly recommended as it helps keep the salad non-soggy and tastes better for longer.
- After 30 minutes or more, drain the liquid that is left in the tomatoes and cucumbers by passing them through a large sieve or colander. Set aside.
- Wash the peanuts and then add enough water and 1 tsp salt to cook the peanuts. You can pressure cook for 12 minutes or boil in a pan for 25 minutes.
- Let the steam release naturally and then drain the peanuts onto a colander.
- Once the peanuts cool down, add them to a large bowl (large enough to toss everything together) and add the rest of the ingredients along with the cucumbers and tomatoes.
- Taste for salt and only add if it feels less because the veggies were salted and the peanuts were cooked in salt too.
- Toss well and serve. It can also be refrigerated and enjoyed for the next few days.
Nutrition
Tamarind Chutney is one of the most simplistic yet delicious dips that you will come across. This chutney is a delicacy in India but quite underrated in western countries. It is extremely popular to pair with street food like Chaats, Samosas , Paani-Puri, Papdi chaat and more. Give this sweet, tangy dip a try and I bet it will become a household favorite for all.
What is Tamarind Chutney?
Random @ beextravegant fact: Did you know that Tamarind originated in Madagascar but was discovered by the Arabs? The Arab traders called it Tamar-al-Hindi which roughly translates to the dates of India? I had no idea too until I started to research more about where my ingredients are coming from.
This chutney is nothing but a dip made with soaked tamarind, brown sugar, salt, and spices. It can go with all kinds of dishes! A sweet and sour sauce, Imli Chutney is commonly used in many dishes in India. Street Food in India is quite a big thing and you can find a Chaat Wala or street food vendor selling Bhelpuri, Aloo Puri, or even hot samosas with a side of Tamarind dip. It’s a simple dip, easy to prep, and requires little to no effort.
How to make Tamarind Chutney?
It doesn’t take too much prep time and comes together quite easily. The secret is soaking the tamarind well and the use of Kala Namak or black salt that gives a smokey flavor. The combination of brown sugar and Kala Namak pairs really well and allows the flavour of the tamarind to stand out. Let’s dive right into the recipe!
- Start by soaking the seedless tamarind in water overnight or for 5 hours in a bowl. Once the tamarind has soaked up the water, you can begin to squeeze the pulp out.
An easier method would be to soak it in boiling hot water for up to an hour and then begin the pulping process.
Pour the soaked tamarind into a sieve and squeeze the pulp from the tamarind with your hands. Like I always say – don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.
- Add water to help pass the pulp through the sieve, until you have squeezed out most of the pulp you have only the fibres of the tamarind fruit left. Squeeze out as much pulp as possible. You should have a fairly thick and smooth tamarind pulp. Set this aside.
- To this, add brown sugar, ginger powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and black salt. Mix well with a whisk until everything is well combined.
- Store the chutney in an air-tight dry jar or container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. Serve with Indian chaat and other snacks.
Tamarind Chutney is now ready to be served on the side with snacks or chaat. Do try this recipe out and let me know how you like it.
Comment down below if you have any questions, feedback, or doubts – I will be happy to help.
Check out my other recipes on Indian Dips:
- Vegan Raita
- Mint Corriander Chutney
- Spicy Red Kaara Chutney
Tamarind Chutney – Sweet and Sour Imli Dip
Ingredients1x2x3x
- 1/2 block or 1/2 cup seedless Tamarind
- 1/2 cup Brown sugar tamarind to sugar ratio should be 1:1
- 1/2 – 1 tsp Red chilli powder
- 3/4 tsp Ginger powder or saunth
- 1/2 tsp Black salt or kala namak
- 3/4 tsp Roasted cumin powder
- 1 tsp Coriander powder
- 2 cup water adjust according to requirement
Instructions
- Soak tamarind in room temperature water overnight or for 4 to 5 hours in a bowl. For quick results soak it in hot water for an hour.
- Pour this into a sieve over a larger bowl and squeeze the pulp from the tamarind with your hands.
- Add more water to help pass the pulp through the sieve, until you have squeezed out most of the pulp and you have only the fibers of the tamarind fruit left.
- You should have a fairly thick and smooth tamarind pulp. Set this aside.
- To this, add brown sugar, ginger powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and black salt.
- Mix well with a whisk until everything is well combined.
- Store the tamarind chutney in an air-tight dry jar or container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.
- Serve with Indian chaat and other snacks.
Nutrition
Vegan Pal Payasam
Ingredients1x2x3x
For the base of the payasam
- 2 cups Soy milk (480 g)
- 3 cups Water (720 g) Milk to water ratio 2:3 by volume
- 1/4 cup Raw Rice (47 g)
- 1/3 cup Sugar (67 g)
- 4-5 Cardamom pods shelled and powdered fine
Tempering with nuts and dried fruit
- 2 tsp Vegan ghee sub with avocado oil, deodorized coconut oil or any other nuetral oil
- 8-10 cashew nuts halved
- 8-10 raisins
Instructions
- Wash the rice, cover with water and set aside.
- In a wide deep bottomed heavy pan pour in the water and the soy milk and bring to a slow boil.
- Once it comes to a boil add in the drained rice to the pan and let it cook on a medium flame.
- The milk mixture will slowly evaporate and reduce in volume by half after the 30 minute mark. After 1 hour and 10 minutes, the mixture would have acquired an off white colour and turned thick in consistency. At this point you can add 1/4 cup more soy milk to loosen it up if its too thick for you.
- Add in the sugar and ground cardamom seeds and mix well. Let it boil for 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved in. Turn off the flame and set aside.
- Heat vegan ghee and oil in a pan and add in the cashews and raisins. Fry on low flame until the nuts are slightly golden and then pour it on to the vegan pal payasam.
- Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!
Notes
- This vegan pal payasam can be stored in the refrigerator (in an air-tight container) for up to a week and enjoyed throughout the week.
- When cooled down, the payasam gets thicker. So make sure to cater to that when boiling down the payasam to your desired thickness.
