Moong dal payasam is a delicious creamy sweet dish made with moong dal, jaggery, cardamom, ghee, nuts and coconut milk!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 5
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Indian, South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup split moong dal (yellow lentils)
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2-3/4 cup organic jaggery (or coconut sugar, adjust to your taste)
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
  • 1 tablespoon ghee ((or coconut oil if vegan))
  • 2 tablespoons coconut pieces
  • 2 tablespoons cashew nuts
  • 2 tablespoons raisins

Method

Instant Pot Method

  1. Press SAUTE button. Add ghee into the pot. Once hot, add cashews, raisins, and coconut pieces, and stir fry till they are light golden brown. Remove and keep aside.
  2. Add the moong dal (yellow lentils) and roast with leftover ghee in the pot until you get a nice aroma for about 2 minutes. Also, you should not let it brown too much. Then add the water. Mix well & Deglaze the pot.
  3. Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes.
  4. Once the pot beeps, let it Natural Pressure Release (NPR).
  5. After done, mix well in a mashing way, add powdered jaggery to this, and turn on the SAUTE button again.
  6. Boil for 2 minutes until the jaggery melts, and then pour in the coconut milk, cardamom powder and cook for 2-3 minutes or until it thickens a bit.
  7. Serve Moong dal payasam or paruppa payasam warm or cold and garnish with roasted cashews, raisins, and coconut pieces.

Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method:

  1. Heat a pressure cooker pan. Add ghee into the pan, once hot add cashews, raisins, and coconut pieces, and stir fry till they are light golden brown in color. Remove and keep aside.
  2. Add the moong dal (yellow lentils) and roast with leftover ghee in the same pan until you get a nice aroma in about 2 minutes, also you should not let it brown too much.
  3. Next, add water into the pan and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles, or you can cook the moong dal in the open pot method as well.
  4. After done, mix well in a mashing way and add powdered jaggery to this and turn on the gas again.
  5. Boil in for 2 minutes until the jaggery has been melted and then pour in the coconut milk, cardamom powder and cook for 2-3 minutes or until it thickens a bit.
  6. Serve moong dal payasa or pesara pappu payasam warm or cold and garnish with roasted cashews, raisins, and coconut pieces.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.