Aval payasam recipe with sugar poha kheer

Gokulashtami sweet recipe | Krishna Janmashtami neivedyam 

This is one of the easy payasam recipes that can be done in very little time.  We need aval or flattened rice of the thicker variety.  I dry grind the aval in a mixer so that it gets cooked  easily.  We can also prepare the kheer  without grinding.

The first three pictures above show the initial steps.  Take a little  ghee in a vanali ( a vessel ).  Add the dry ground aval to the vessel and roast it with ladle.  Once the colour changes transfer it to a plate .
Next add a little water in a vessel and when the water starts  boiling add the aval and heat .  Aval gets cooked very quickly , particularly if we have dry ground it in a mixer.

Take a couple of spoons of ghee in a vessel called vanali.

When the ghee melts add the aval and roast it ( since the ghee is little we  do not use the word fry !)

Once the aval is roasted transfer it to a plate

Add water to a vessel and when it boils add the aval.  Little water is sufficient.

Roasted aval is added to boiling water

Once the aval is cooked completely add milk and cook again.  We can cook it directly in milk also .  However I am used to this method.

Once the aval is cooked in milk add sugar.  The quantity of sugar depends upon our sweet tooth.  I add one measure sugar for one measure aval or flattened rice ( also called poha ).  Poha is a very commonly used ingredients for recipes in  Maharastra .  My sister who lives in Mumbai uses a lot of poha in her recipes !

Once the sugar dissolves completely and kheer is ready we can garnish with cashews fried in ghee

Aval payasam is an important recipes for Krishna Jayanthi or Janmastami because we believe that Lord Krishna is very fond of aval or poha as we learn from the story of his friendship when he ate three handfuls of poha given by his poor friend and alleviated  his poverty by uttering "Akshaya" three times for the three handfuls of poha.  This story is behind the celebration of the festival Akshaya Tritiya.  We believe that anything good and  auspicious done on  Akshaya Tritiya increases manifold.  We can do Pooja , dhan or visit ancient  temples on this day.  Nowadays many purchase jewellery on this day.  Probably it would be better that along with jewellery , we also visit an ancient temple or offer dhan or perform a homa or Pooja on that day ,  the original intention of celebrating  this festival will also be fulfilled.