Pazham Parippu Payasam/ Moong Dal -Banana-Payasam/പഴം പരിപ്പ് പായസം

Recipe courtesy: My friend Biji Thomas
Ingredients:
Moong Dal (ചെറുപയര്‍ പരിപ്പ്)- 1 cup
Jaggery (ശര്‍ക്കര) -300 gm
Banana- 1 large nicely ripen, finely chopped
Dates- 10 (optional) , finely chopped
Thin/diluted  Coconut milk- 2-3 cups
Thick coconut milk- 1 cup
Fried coconut tidbits, cashew nuts, raisins- 2-3 tsp of each (fried in melted butter/ghee)
Cardamom-1-2 (powdered/crushed)
Dry ginger powder (ചുക്ക്  പൊടിച്ചത്)-1 pinch
Melted butter/ghee for frying

Method:

Wash moong dal and drain. Pressure cook it with 2 cups of water until it has completely mashed (or try mashing with a spoon). Mean while melt  jaggery in 1-2 cups of water, keep it for sometime to settle and filter. Add this to the mashed moong dal and mix well with medium heat on. Now add thin coconut milk, chopped banana and dates. Stir continuously until it gets the correct consistency. Then turn off the flame, pour thick coconut milk, powdered/crushed cardamom, dry ginger powder and mix well. Finally top with fried cashews, coconut tidbits and raisins. Serve either hot or cold.

Tips:

Adjust the amount of jaggery according to your taste.

The payasam tends to get thicken upon standing so adjust the consistency accordingly.