Paal Payasam/Rice Kheer in Pressure Cooker

Back in Kerala we always look forward to the trip to Moms home during school holidays. The best part of the trip was the drive from my hometown to moms place which is in Thiruvalla. Typically it would take 6-7 hours , but we always end up taking 12 hrs or more.We stop almost every 1 hr or so and enjoy each and every local delights or specialties on the way. It was on one of those stopovers that I tasted the famous Ambalapuzha Pal payasam for the first time.. Hands down, that is the best thing in the world, the true beauty of the payasam  is its simplicity, just three ingredients Rice, Milk and Sugar

The exact taste, texture and the pinkish color of the famous payasam comes from thickening of the Milk. There is absolutely no added flavors like cardamom or saffron or dry fruits. Hands down thatz the best thing I ever had. The only down side is that once you have tasted this king of payasams, any other payasams you have from then on is just another payasamL.

I have tried my luck at making the paal payasam to come at least 2 steps close to the famous Ambalapuzha Pal payasam. I have tried the straight forward steps of cooking the payasam for hours, tried some cheating by adding milkmade and flavorings..Nah..doesn’t even come close. Recently one of my friend mentioned that she cooked payasam in pressure cooker and it tasted awesome.

So I followed the same and Eureka..I am one step closerJ.I will be exaggerating if I say this one is same as the Ambalapuzha Pal payasam but it definitely is the best I have made so far

Paal Payasam/Rice Kheer in Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

¼ Cup Rose Matta Rice

1 Liter Milk

¼ Cup Sugar (Can add more sugar as per your taste.)

Directions

Wash and soak the rice for 1 hr. Drain the rice and spread it on a paper towel to make it dry.

Pulse it in a mixer for few seconds. Do not grind it coarsely. You just need to break down the rice to probably half the size.

Now in a pressure cooker, add the milk, rice and sugar. Cook for one whistle and lower the flame and cook for another 20 minutes.

I was using low fat milk , so I had to cook for another 20 minutes to get the right texture , thicker milk and light pink color.

So adjust the extra cooking time as per the quality of the milk.