TranslateParuppu payasam is the sweet that closes a Tamil feast. Roasted moong dal is cooked soft, sweetened with melted jaggery and finished with thick coconut milk, cardamom and ghee-fried cashews and raisins. It appears on the banana leaf at weddings, Pongal, Onam-style sadhya meals and temple annadhanam across the state.
Type
Vegetarian dessert
Meal occasion
Festivals, weddings, end of a feast
Region
Statewide; especially the Cauvery delta and southern districts
Key ingredients
Moong dal, jaggery, coconut milk, cardamom, ghee, cashews
Moong dal is dry-roasted until fragrant, then pressure-cooked to a soft mash. Jaggery is melted separately, strained and stirred in, followed by thin and then thick coconut milk. Cardamom and dry ginger are added off the heat so the aroma survives, and ghee-fried cashews and raisins go on last.
The result is warm, nutty and mellow rather than sharply sweet, with the caramel notes of jaggery and the roundness of coconut milk.
Some households add a spoon of chana dal for texture. In the delta districts the payasam is thinner and drunk from a tumbler at the end of the meal; in the south it is served thick and spooned. A milk-based version replaces coconut milk entirely, and temple kitchens often prepare very large batches with generous ghee.
Traditional banana-leaf meal restaurants in Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Madurai and Chennai serve payasam as part of festival and wedding-style sadhya plates. Temple annadhanam halls during major festivals frequently include it, and any Pongal-season meal in a Tamil home will feature a version of it.
