Bellam Payasam (Dairy-free Rice Pudding with Jaggery)

Blogging Marathon# 43: Week 2/ Day 2 Theme: Navarathri -- Festival Special Dish: Bellam Payasam (Dairy-free Rice Pudding with Jaggery)  For the second day of Festival special, I have a dairy-free rice pudding recipe made with jaggery. Bellam payasam was one of the dishes that is made during navathri. I wasn't sure how this was different from bellam paravannam. As I was discussing this with my mom, she remembered a similar sweet preparation that was made by one of my neighbors, it was made with just jaggery and rice -- no milk is added. Since my husband is milk-phobic, my mom decided to make this dish for him.

The final dish was quite tasty and it was creamy from the soft cooked rice. It tasted almost similar to the paravannam and I don't think I missed the milk in it.
Ingredients:
Rice - ½cup
Jaggery - ½cup, chopped (adjust as per taste)
Ground Cardamom - ½tsp
Cashews - 1tbsp, chopped
Raisins - 1tbsp
Method:

• Cook rice with enough water until very soft.
• Heat 1tbsp ghee** in a small pan, add the cashews and raisins. Fry until cashews are golden and raisins are plump. Remove into a small bowl and set aside.
• Melt jaggery with few tablespoons of water and cook until a thick syrup forms. Add the cooked rice and mix well and cook for 4~5 minutes. Add some water if the mixture looks too dry.
• Add the ground cardamom and the fried dry fruit. Mix well and turn off the heat.

** Skip the ghee and use vegetable oil to make this dish completely dairy free and vegan. Let's check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today for BM# 43.