How to make delicious Ada Pradhaman?

Ada Pradhaman is a traditional classic dessert recipe from Kerala. It is one of the most popular payasam varieties prepared during the festive seasons like Onam.

Ada predhaman is known to be an important ingredient of an Onam Sadhya menu. The process of making this payasam recipe is considered to be a tedious one than the other Kerala dessert varieties. Rice ada, jaggery and freshly prepared coconut milk are the essential components of this delicious recipe. The presence of jaggery is responsible for a light brown colour and a sweet taste. The addition of fried raisins, cashew nuts and coconut bits adds to the taste. The word pradhama means the first one, as the name suggest Ada pradhaman is known to be the first among payasams due to its taste and tradition. Rice ada used in this recipe can be bought from the stores or it can be prepared at home. Let’s have a look at the ingredients required and the method of preparation of Ada Pradhaman

Ingredients required for the preparation of Ada Pradhaman

Ingredients for making rice ada

• 1 cup of raw rice
• 2 teaspoon of sugar
• 2 teaspoon of melted ghee
• Medium hot water

Ingredients for making Ada Pradhaman

• 1/2 cup of rice ada
• 1¼ cup of grated jaggery
• 1¼ cup of thin coconut milk
• ½ cup of thick coconut milk
• 2 tablespoon of coconut bits
• 2 tablespoon of cashew nuts
• 2-3 tablespoon of raisins
• ¼ teaspoon of Cardamom powder
• 1-2 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon of ghee

Method of preparation of rice ada

• Soak 1 cup of raw rice in the water for 1 hour. Strain the rice and dry it in a piece of cloth for about 2 hours.
• Grind the rice to fine powder and sieve it through a fine sieve.
• Add 2 teaspoon of melted ghee, 2 teaspoon of sugar and medium hot water.
• Mix it to form a consistency of chapati batter.
• Take out a banana leaf and cut it into medium sized square pieces. Show these leaf pieces to the fire to make them flexible.
• Boil some water in a vessel.
• Take out lemon sized pieces from the thick batter and paste each piece on the back side of a leaf piece.
• Immediately drop these to the boiling water. Repeat the process till the whole of batter is finished.
• Cooked pieces would float to the water surface. (we can also prepare the ada through steaming)
• Remove the adas and wash it in water three or four times to remove the stickiness.
• Chop these ada to fine pieces.

Method of preparation of Ada Pradhaman

• If you have bought the rice ada from the store, add it to the boiled water. Remove the vessel from the heat, keep the ada in the water for 30 minutes. Then, take out the ada and rinse it in cold water for 2-3 times to remove the stickiness. Drain the water and keep it aside. (If you have prepared the rice ada in your home, this processes is not required)
• Add the grated jaggery in half cup of water. Heat it so that the jaggery is melted to form a thick brown solution.
• Strain it to remove the impurities from the melted jaggery and keep it aside.
• Heat a deep frying pan and pour 2 teaspoons of ghee and add the cashew nuts, raisins and the coconut bits for frying. Once it is fried take out from the flame and keep it aside.
• In the same pan, heat some more ghee and add the rice ada. Fry it in low-medium flame for about 5 minutes.
• Add the melted jaggery solution and cook it in a low-medium flame to form a thick solution.
• Once it forms a thick solution, add 1¼ cup of thin coconut milk. Continue the cooking to form a thick solution.
• Once it thickens add thick coconut milk, fried raisins, cashew nuts, coconut bites and cardamom powder. Mix it well and switch off the flame. Do not cook after adding the thick coconut milk.
• Delicious ada pradhaman is ready and serve it hot or chilled.