Navratan Payasam - "Nine Jewels" Pudding

 Navratan jewellery is made up of nine gemstones that create good energies for the wearer and bring good fortune, good health and professional growth. This type of jewellery has been worn for centuries in India and it looks spectacular.  However, our focus today is is the navratan pudding where I have used at least 9 different things to create a pudding that is healthy, looks and tastes great and leaves you warm all over - perfect for a cool autumn evening. I have always been fond of kitchen experiments. I must have been 14 or 15 when I made a stir fry for my appa with passion fruit leaves.  I had read that passion fruit leaves were edible and that they were good for people with high blood pressure.  Since my appa suffered from high blood pressure, I made it for him. I found it quite bitter, but the good man that he was he ate it all up and even complimented me! 

Today I have used a mix of spices, fruits and nuts to create this dessert - and both me and my husband enjoyed it a lot.  So here is the recipe - I hope you try it too!

Note: I used fresh root turmeric that I had dried and stored in the pantry.  Do not use store bought turmeric since it is often powdered in the same factory that powders chillies. If you are unable to find root turmeric, just use saffron.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon sago

1 to 11/2  cup water

4 tablespoons very fine pre roasted vermicelli

1/2 cup milk 

2 tablespoons sugar or honey

5 green cardamoms, skin peeled and seeds powdered

1 inch piece dried ginger, powdered (about a tablespoon of ginger powder)

1 tiny piece of dried turmeric, powdered

1 tablespoon each of cashew nuts, sultanas, slivered almonds, pumpkin seeds and pistachios

1 tablespoon ghee 

A few dried cranberries for garnish

Method:

Add the sago to the water and cook till the sago pearls go transparent. Some of the water will evaporate, this is okay.  Just make sure that there is still about a cup of water in the pot by the time you are finished cooking the sago.

Add the honey / sugar.  Reduce the fire and stir till it dissolves.

Next add the pre-toasted vermicelli and stir. Add the milk. Turn off the flame.

Use half a tablespoon ghee to toast the nuts - cashew nuts first, then the pistachios, almonds and finally the pumpkin seeds. Add to the pudding.

Next, use the remaining ghee to cook the sultanas so that they plump up. 

Add this to the pudding too.

Finely powder the cardamom, ginger and turmeric. Use a sieve and transfer the powders to the pudding.

The turmeric gives a warm yellow glow to the pudding that looks very attractive.

Turn on the stove and warm up the pudding. Serve warm with a few dried cranberries on top for garnish.

This is a great dessert to have in autumn or winter. Ginger, turmeric and honey help build immunity and all the nuts and dried fruit have micronutrients and minerals that contribute to your health.  Most of all, it is very tasty and makes a perfect ending to a nice Indian meal.