Kharjura(Date) Payasa

Its spring time in India and the magic touch of spring makes everything look so beautiful. I can imagine mango trees dressed up like brides with garland of flowers and fruits swinging to the tunes of cool breeze. Farms and fields all set for harvesting. Kids ready to wind up their final exams and eagerly waiting for summer holidays to spend at granny’s place. Young lovers walking on the red and crimson carpets of newly fallen delicate gulmohar flowers. The air is filled with joy, enthusiasm and gaiety. Ah!!! Heaven on earth…

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

This is the time when we celebrate the beginning of new era. According to Hindu calendar, Ugadi is the beginning of new lunar calendar. Vedas say that the creator of the World, Lord Brahma started creation on this day of Ugadi. It is very auspicious for Hindus all around the world as we celebrate the new year. Ugadi comes close on the heels of Holi, the festival of colours. While the bright colours of Holi starts to fade away, the freshness of spring lingers on all around. The trees with bright red flowers that blossom during Holi are in full bloom signifying the spring in full blossom.

In Karnataka Ugadi is celebrated by offering Bevu-Bella, which is Neem buds/leaves for bitterness and Jaggery for sweetness. They symbolize the fact that life is a mixture of pleasure and pain and they both should be in equilibrium for happy life. For more information on ugadi click here.

I made Kharjura(Dates) Payasa for Neivedya(offering to God). It is a simple yet very delicious dish which is my hubby’s all time favorite payasa. I am posting this recipe for my best friend Archu who is in Dubai and very soon gonna make me Chikki/Aunty (I want a sweet, lovely niece like you, ok? :) This is for you sweetie with all our good wishes and love. Cant wait to hold little Archie in my arms:)

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

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Kharjura(Date) Payasa
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Serves: 2-4

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Ingredients:
1 cup Dates, deseeded
1 cup Coconut Milk, freshly sqeezed
1 cup Water
½ - ¾ cup Jaggery (Adjust acc to taste)
¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
Few Cashew Nuts, fried to golden in Ghee

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

Method:

Chop dates into small bite size pieces and cook them in ½ glass of water till they become soft. It usually takes 8-10 minutes in medium flame.
Drain the remaining water and keep it aside.
Cool these cooked dates before grinding them to rough, coarse paste without adding any water.
Take ½ cup of water in heavy bottomed pan and add this date mixture to it.
To this add thin coconut milk, jaggery and keep stirring in medium heat.
When it starts boiling add cardamom powder and cashew nuts and cook further for 2-3 minutes.
Serve it hot or chilled and enjoy.

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

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Did You Know?
Date, name for a palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and for its edible fruit.
Probably native to Arabia and North Africa, it has from earliest times been a principal food in many desert and tropical regions.
For some 4,000 years it has been grown near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It is cultivated in many other warm regions, including parts of the SW United States and Mexico.
The trees sometimes reach a height of 100 ft (30.5 m) and yield fruit for generations.
taminate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers are borne on separate trees, and pollination of those grown commercially is usually done by hand.
In the Old World, a sugar and a fermented drink are made from the sap of the date palm and other species of Phoenix, and the seeds are sometimes roasted and used as a coffee substitute or pressed for oil, leaving a residue useful for stock feed.
The wood of the trunk is often used in construction and the leaves are used for weaving mats and baskets.
Dates are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Arecales, family Palmae. (Source:www.factmonster.com)