INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

• 1/2 cup sago
• 1 teaspoon ghee
• 1/4 cup vermicelli
• 100g tablespoons condensed milk
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8-10 cashew nuts
• 8-10 raisins
• 2-3 cardamom pods crushed coarsely with pestle and mortar
• 3 cups of water

1. Temper the vermicelli, cashew and raisins in ghee till the vermicelli starts turning golden. This should only take about a minute.
2. Bring water to boil in a pot and add the sago. Reduce the heat a little bit and keep stirring the sago. If you don’t stir the sago it will become a thick sticky mixture which you don’t want.
3. Stir for about 10 min or until the sago is cooked. You will know if it’s cooked when the sago becomes soft
4. Add the condensed milk,  sugar, salt, cashew, raisins and vermicelli and keep stirring for about 3-4 minutes
5. Add the crushed cardamom
6. Turn off heat
7. The liquid will quickly evaporate and the payasam will become quite thick. It should be served runny and can be as runny as you want it to be.  So if you find that it’s too thick, just add boiling water to the mixture. I prefer adding soy milk (I don’t drink normal milk) to it. Normal milk will work too.