Palada Payasam

Palada payasam (Palada Payasam／പാലട പായസം) is a Kerala sweet in which ada, flakes made from rice, are simmered until soft in milk and sugar. Short, flat pieces of ada remain in the thick, sweet milk. The star is rice that has first been made into a thin sheet. It is also popularly known as palada pradhaman.

Palada payasam photographed in Aluva, Kerala. Photo: Ranjithsiji, Aluva, Kerala, India, 2021-03-21. Source／CC BY-SA 4.0. Downscaled image provided by Commons.

Making Rice into Flakes Before Cooking

Ada is made by spreading a batter of rice flour or similar ingredients thinly, cooking it, and cutting it into small pieces. A traditional method cooks it using banana leaves, and today dried ada is also sold. Making a batter, cooking it in a thin layer, and then cutting it gives the ada a form that remains as flakes even when simmered.

In one recipe (a set of ingredient proportions and method) that uses dried ada, the ada is first soaked in boiling water and rinsed, cooked in water and milk, and then added to milk heated separately. This method separates the stage of letting moisture penetrate the ada from the stage of reducing the sweet milk to finish the dish. Soaking and cooking times vary with the size and thickness of the commercial product.

Thin ada lets moisture reach the center easily, while thicker ada gives a more distinct texture of the dough when you bite into it. One company that makes ada produces fine pieces for palada, which is cooked in milk, and slightly larger pieces for ada pradhaman, which is made with coconut milk. The difference between the two sweets shows not only in the cooking liquid but also in the size of the flakes used with it.

Reducing the Milk

While the ada simmers until soft, the milk also loses water as it heats and becomes richer. Within a single process, the cook balances the moisture needed to cook the ada with the richness desired in the finished milk. Sugar is added, and the dish is finished while being stirred so that it does not scorch.

Some home methods add condensed milk. This is one present-day recipe that supplements the richness and sweetness of the milk. A method that reduces the milk for a long time and a method that adjusts the richness by adding concentrated milk differ in the time the process takes and in how the flavor of the milk comes through. The cooking time is adjusted according to the size of the pot and the amount of milk.

Chef Regi Mathew makes his palada with only milk, sugar, water, and ada. The milk is first reduced for a long time over low heat, and then ada that has been soaked separately in hot water and rinsed thoroughly is added and cooked further. This method uses few ingredients to bring out the aroma created by slowly heating sugar and milk.

A recipe from Kerala Tourism also gives an example in which soaked and rinsed ada is sautéed with butter over low heat, handled carefully so that it does not break apart, and then combined with milk and condensed milk.

Some home methods add cardamom at the end for aroma, or scatter cashews and raisins fried in ghee over the top. Against the soft ada and milk, the nuts and dried fruit add small bits of crunch and different flavors. The softened ada provides the texture of the flakes, the reduced milk provides a rich sweetness, and when spices or garnishes are added, they layer other aromas on top.

Cashews, raisins, and cardamom used for palada payasam. Photo: Irvin calicut, location unconfirmed, 2024-09-15. Source／CC BY-SA 4.0. Downscaled image provided by Commons.

Milk and Sugar, Coconut Milk and Gur

The closely related ada pradhaman is a sweet in which the same ada is cooked in coconut milk and gur. Whereas palada payasam uses milk and white sugar, ada pradhaman combines coconut milk with gur, which has its own color and aroma. Even with the same rice flakes, the flavor profile changes depending on whether milk fat or coconut provides the aroma, and whether the sweetness comes from sugar or from gur.

In Kerala, both the names pradhaman and payasam are used, and palada pradhaman is also used as a product name.

A Milk Sweet Served at Weddings and Sadya

Palada payasam is known as a sweet of the sadya served at celebrations such as Onam, and it is also used in vegetarian wedding meals and as a temple offering. In a sadya, many dishes are served on a banana leaf, and payasam is served after the rice and side dishes.

The order of the meal varies by region. In the northern and southern examples described by a local chef, rice is served again after the payasam and eaten with sour dairy dishes such as moru. The sweet is not necessarily the last dish; the meal may progress from savory to sweet to the sourness of dairy.

In the south, palada may also be eaten with boli, a thin sweet made with legumes, or with boondi laddu. Pairing the milk sweet with another sweet layers different textures within the same sadya.

According to one account, palada pradhaman and pazha pradhaman, which is made with bananas, are favored in the north, while in the south several kinds of payasam are combined. The same article gives an example of an order for eating multiple sweets, moving from pale milk-based ones to darker gur-based ones. Palada is served after rice as the staple, as a sweet in which rice made into flakes is enjoyed with rich milk.

Processed Products Linking Workshops and Homes

Today, the dairy cooperative Milma makes a dry mix that is added to milk and cooked, as well as a ready-to-eat canned product. With the former, part of the cooking is still done at home; the latter is distributed in finished form. The two differ in how many of the stages, such as processing the rice, concentrating the milk, and packaging, are completed by the manufacturer. Ways of making and selling this sweet have broadened from a labor-intensive celebratory dish to products that can also be used in everyday life.

Glossary