• Heat a tea spoon of ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and add the cashew. Fry the cashew until light brown. Remove and set a side.

frying and cooking the moong dal.

• In the same pan which has some ghee left over, add the moong dal and roast for 3 to 4 minutes until nice aroma comes.
• To the same pan add 2 ½ cups of water and cook the dal till soft but not mushy. The dal should still hold its shape if not the paysam will become a paste after cooking further with jaggery and milk. Add more water if needed to cook.

Making jaggery syrup-

• If using jaggery powder, skip this step.
• But if you are using the jaggery blocks, break them into small pieces. Now we need to make jaggery syrup.
• if using microwave boil ½ cup water and add the jageery pieces to it and let it melt.
• if using a pan - add water and jaggery to a pan and cook till jaggery melts completely. Cool it slightly.
• Strain the jaggery to remove any impurities.

grinding the coconut -

• Grind the fresh grated coconut with ¾ cup of water till smooth paste.
• You can also replace with coconut milk, preferably the thin coconut milk. If using thick one, reduce the quantity.

making moong dal payasam-

• To the cook dal, add the jaggery syrup (or jaggery powder) and mix. Cook for a minute.
• Now add the milk and ground coconut and mix well. Adjust the consistency of the payasam depending on how thick or thin you like it.
• The paysam will thicken as it cools, so its good to make the paysam little watery.
• Simmer for 10-12 minutes and finally add ghee, fried nuts and cardamom powder.
• Turn off the heat and serve the payasam warm.