Akkaravadisal or lentil pudding

Wash the rice and lentils. Drain the water and keep aside.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan. Add 2 tbsp of ghee. When the ghee is hot, fry the cashews and raisins until golden. Keep aside for garnishing.

In the same pan fry the washed rice and dal in the remaining ghee.

Add a litre of milk and let the rice and dal cook in the milk. It helps to keep the vessel closed with a lid on.

Continue cooking over a low flame thereafter. Keep stirring often, so that the bottom of the pan doesn’t burn.

Once the rice and dal is cooked evenly, add the melted jaggery. Adding jaggery very early on may curdle the milk. Add additional milk if the Akkaravadisal is too thick.

Add a pinch of saffron, camphor and Kesari colouring and continue to stir for a little while until the mixture comes to a thick porridge like consistency.

Add the roasted cashews and raisins on top before serving.

Note: Traditionally, for making Akkaravadisal, Ponni raw rice is used, which is a variety of rice cultivated in southern India. Ponni raw rice and other varieties of raw rice are available in Asian supermarkets in the UAE.