Name: Bellam paramannam | Annam payasam recipe | Bellam pongali
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: ¾ cup rice; ¼ cup moong dal ( / pesara pappu); 350 grams jaggery ( (grated or powdered)); 4 green cardamoms ( (powder finely)(if adding powder add a generous pinch)); 5 cups whole milk ( (you can use low fat milk if you desire)); 1.5 cups water ( (you can replace with milk too, but the sweet becomes too thick and you have to stir it constantly to prevent the bottom from getting burnt)); Cashews (as desired); 3 to 4 tbsps Ghee; raisins (as desired)

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Bellam paramannam or payasam recipe – In most Andhra homes during the festivals makara sankranti(pongal festival), varalakshmi vratam, lakshmi puja, navratri puja this payasam is made. It is also called as sankranti pongal or bellam pongali. This is prepared with the dal and rice from the new harvest if prepared during pongal festival, since it is a festival of harvest. I just follow my mom’s recipe and I wonder if there are any other versions of making this bellam paramannam.

During any festival food preparations, the first thing to do in the morning is make the jaggery syrup and set it aside to cool while you proceed with other preparations. Since adding hot syrup to any payasam or paramannam will curdle the milk and ruin the dish. So always make sure your jaggery syrup is cool to room temperature. This time when I prepared this pongal, I had kept the glass of jaggery syrup in ice cold water to cool. I had to occasionally stir the syrup to cool it faster. But I suggest using a wide bowl for cooling the syrup. This recipe yields a very creamy, tasty and delicious sweet. If you are on a low fat diet, you can replace with low fat milk and reduce the ghee.

How to make bellam paramannam or payasam

1. Soak rice and dal for at least 15 to 30 mins.
2. You can directly skip and begin from step 6, if you have jaggery which is clean with out any stones or impurities. Otherwise follow making the syrup here. Add water just enough to immerse the jaggery in a heavy bottom pan. heat up till it melts completely.

3. Filter and remove debris.

4. Rinse the pan and transfer the filtered syrup to the pan, boil it till it slightly thickens. Remember that on cooling it becomes thicker.

5. Transfer this to a wide bowl and partially immerse it in ice cold water for cooling. Take care so that the water doesn’t seep into the jaggery syrup.

6. On a low flame, bring milk and water to a boil in a heavy bottom pan, drain up the water from rice and dal and add it to the boiling milk.

7. Cook until the rice and dal is soft cooked. Check if the rice is soft cooked. Take a grain of rice and mash it to check if it is cooked. If you add syrup before the rice is cooked properly, the rice becomes hard and is not cooked further.

cooking rice and dal for making bellam payasam recipe 7

8. Pour the cooled jaggery syrup, add cardamom powder and stir well to blend the jaggery well. I do not cook further for fear of it getting curdled. I switch off the heat and leave the utensil on the stove.

addition of sweetner to make bellam pongali recipe 8

9. While the rice cooks, you can finish frying the nuts. Heat ghee in a small pan, add cashews and fry till slightly golden, add raisins and off the heat. Add this to the payasam.

Garnish with nuts and raisins before you offer to God.

If you are looking for more festival recipes, check
poornam boorelu,
garelu
pala munjalu,
chakkara pongal with jaggery,
Chakkara pongal with sugar
senagapappu payasam
sagubiyyam payasam

find bellam paramannam or payasam recipe below