Peek into a traditional festive kitchen in Mysuru

When I moved to London with my husband more than 10 years ago, I completed my advanced course in designing and also learnt how to cook.

The produce available in the markets there was so fresh that it made it fun for me to cook and experiment with new dishes. I also learnt a lot from cooking-based channels.

When we moved back to India in 2011, it was nice to see that some of the exotic ingredients were available in the markets here too.

Items like blueberries and strawberries weren’t as easily available then as they are now.

Whenever I made something, I would upload it on my Facebook page and some foodie groups. Back then, I used my phone to take the pictures.

My friends were the ones who encouraged me to start a blog and keep a digital record of whatever I was doing. That’s how ‘Mad about Kitchen’ was born.

Since then, I’ve uploaded a number of recipes and learnt how to take photographs using a professional camera.

Thanks to my background in design, a lot of things came easily to me; for example, aspects like texture, colour combination and placement weren’t too complex to figure out.

The recipe I have shared is a Ugadi special. I grew up in Mysuru, where the celebrations around this festival are grand. Apart from the new clothes we got, I looked forward to the food.

Some delicacies we made at this time included soute kaayi kosambari (cucumber salad), carrot kosambari (carrot salad), beans palya (beans stir fry), chitranna (lemon rice), sambar, rasam, papad, pickle and paayasa (kheer). In some of the snacks, we added jaggery — it was believed that the more jaggery you have, the sweeter your year
will be.

‘Hesaru Bele Paayasa’ is quite simple to make and will bring back memories of the olden days.

Ingredients

1 cup – Hesaru Bele (Moong dal / Green Gram)

4 tbsps – Ghee

6 tbsps – Jaggery

2nos – Cardamom

6 to 8 – Cashews and Raisins

2 cups – Milk

4 tbsps – Condensed Milk (optional)

Dry coconut pieces

Method

Dry fry the dal till it gives out a nutty smell. Wash it well.

Now, pressure cook the dal along with water till it is soft and well cooked.

In a pan, take a cup of water and the jaggery and cook till the jaggery is dissolved.

Strain this mixture to remove any dirt in the jaggery.

Add this jaggery mix to the cooked lentil.

Cook this for about 5 minutes till the lentil is well combined with jaggery. Add water as and when required.

Now add milk, cardamom and condensed milk and cook till the paayasa reaches a soupy consistency.

Now take ghee in a small pan.

Fry the dry coconut pieces till golden brown. Take it out into a bowl.

To the same pan, add cashews and raisins and fry till golden brown.

Add the coconut pieces, cashews and raisins to the paayasa and serve hot.