Indian Jaggery Rice Pudding (Vellam Payasam) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Pudding
1/2 cup uncooked medium grain rice
2 cups water
300 300 g palm sugar or 300 g brown sugar (Preferably don't substitute)
2 1/2 tablespoons ghee or 2 1/2 tablespoons clarified butter
Garnish
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon broken cashews
1/2 tablespoon ghee or 1/2 tablespoon clarified butter

Preparation

Add rice and water to a pot on a high flame and bring to a boil.
Lower the flame to low and simmer covered until the rice is cooked, about 15 minutes.
Uncover, add jaggery and 2 1/2 tablespoons of ghee and let the mixture simmer on the low flame, stirring every 2 minutes.
When the mixture starts to thicken to the consistency of pourable custard (about 10 minutes), remove from flame.
Sprinkle cardamom powder over the pudding.
In a small skillet, roast the broken cashewnuts in 1/2 tbsp ghee and pour over the pudding.
Mix well, and serve immediately, or cold, after refrigeration.