I saw this recipe in a Tamil magazine a couple of months back. I was very hesitant to try it because I was wondering how ridge gourd would taste in a sweet dish. Finally I got the courage and prepared it yesterday. The experiment was a grand success. I did not tell my husband what I was preparing. After it was done I gave him little payasam and asked him how it was. He told, "It tastes like any other payasam. Why do you want to post it in your blog?" He has a very sensitive nose, so he can guess what's cooking even with the mildest aroma. He himself could not believe that it was made with ridge gourd.
Ridge Gourd Kheer Recipe |
| Prep Time | Cook Time | Makes |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Mins | 30 Mins | 4 Cups |
| Author | Category | Method |
| Madhuram | Desserts | Cooking |
Ingredients:
- 1 Big Ridge Gourd
- 4 Cups Milk (I Used 2% Milk)
- 1 To 2 Cups Water For Cooking The Ridge Gourd
- 1/4 To 1/2 Cup As Per Your Taste Sugar
- Little Cardamom Powder
Optional Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons Condensed Milk
- As Needed Cashews, Raisins For Garnishing
- 2 Teaspoons Ghee For Frying The Nuts
- As Needed Green Food Color
My Special Ingredients:
- 2 Cups Milk For Cooking The Ridge Gourd (I Used Skim Milk Instead Of Water)
- 5 Whole Cashews (To Cook Along With The Vegetable)
Procedure:
- Wash the ridge gourd under running water and peel the coarse ridges. Discard it and then peel the skin and save it for grinding chutney.
- Cut the gourd into small pieces. I pressure cooked the gourd, 2 cups of skim milk and 5 cashews for 2 whistles.
- While the ridge gourd is cooking, boil the 4 cups of milk in a heavy bottomed vessel.
- Wait for the pressure to release and grind the cooked vegetable in a blender. I used an immersion blender and got a very smooth ridge gourd puree.
- Add this puree to the boiling milk and let it cook for another 10 minutes or until you are not able to smell the vegetable. Keep stirring once in a while so that the bottom of the vessel does not scorch.
- Add the condensed milk, sugar and cardamom powder and the food color if you wish. Let this mixture simmer for a while.
- Meanwhile heat the ghee in a small frying pan and fry cashews, raisins and add it to the kheer.
- Serve it hot or cold.
My Notes:
- The paysam was very delicious. At first I added 1/2 cup of sugar but felt that it was not sweet enough. So I added another 1/4 cup, but this made the payasam very swweeeeeeeet. I will reduce the quantity of sugar the next time (more than 1/4 cup but little less than 1/2 cup) .
- In case you choose to cook the vegetable with water, just remove the cooked vegetables alone and blend it. Reserve the liquid for some soup or stew. If you use milk, you can blend everything together.
- The author of the original recipe has also given recipes for potato, chayote squash (chow chow), cabbage, cauliflower, green peas, bottle gourd and red pumpkin kheer in the same method. I have prepared the red pumpkin kheer a couple of times and it tastes very good too. I have not yet tried the other vegetables.
- I also prepare chutney with the ridge gourd peel and chow chow peel always. Yesterday morning I prepared chow chow kootu (daal), so I had reserved those peels too. So I prepared a chutney with the peels of both the vegetables. I know that many of you do it already. Those who are not aware of the recipe, if you are interested I will post it here. Let me know.
Hi Madhuram
I would like to try this soon but I am dying to know what floats in the top.
The red pearls? Is it pomegranate?
Thanks
G
Its saara paruppu (charoli). You can get it in Indian stores. You would have to fry it in ghee just like you would fry cashews. It’s bitter if you don’t fry it.
Never had a ridge gourd kheer. very creative idea and sounds YUM. I have ad award for you in my site. You deserve it dear!
Hey Madhu, I have something for you, check my blog!!!
the kheer looks all yummy and delish…liked those nuts also
Hi Madhuram…
U make kheer out of Ridge Gourd…. So different… 🙂 sounds great…
@Siri: Thank you very much Siri. You won’t believe how good it tasted.
I couldn’t believe its ridge gourd madhu.. 😯 looks so gud just like any other yummy payasam.. 😀
Siri
Srivalli, yes it is ridge gourd. We were also wowed by it’s taste.
SS, I have to try it, everybody is telling the same.
Kamala, it’s new to me too.
Anjali, chayote squash and chow chow are one and the same. This vegetable can be used in daal/kootu, sambar and you can prepare curry with coconut also. I’ll send a detailed mail to your email ID.
Swati, definitely try it. You can’t believe it’s made of ridge gourd.
Cham, thank you. I’m hearing about ridge gourd halwa a lot. Should try that also.
Shriya, it did taste very good.
Akay, don’t mention it. What are friends for after all?
Divya, Rhitu, Spillay thank you very much.
Shweta, even I read about cauliflower, potato, cabbage and green peas kheer in that book. Now I know, I can try gobhi kheer too. Thank you.
Uma, thank you. You had such a wonderful Mother’s Day! Your girls are so cute.
RedChillies, tell me about hesitant. I had copied this recipe nearly two years back and got the courage to try it only now. The taste was very good.
Asha, Ranji and Madhavi, thank you very much. You should also try it.
wow this looks awesome, very nice recipe madhu. Ridge gourd kheer, wow great idea!!!
ridge gourd kheer is very new to me!!!looks delicious…
WOW!! Didn’t know you could make payasa with gourd, looks beautiful!:)
To be frank, even I was a bit surprised to see ridge gourd in a sweet dish. But this looks awesome.
lovely payasam! new way to add ridgourd to the payasam! Really unique.
Nice! My mom makes gobhi ki kheer, no one can ever tell! I can easily imagine how good this must taste 🙂
It looks so yummy!! 🙂
its a great healthy way of giving green vegetable to picky
kids like mine.It tastes awesome.I am going to make it again and again.
the payasam looks too good madhu.looks heavenly..will try pumpkin halwa too..thanks for ur suggestion
That looks awesome – I have heard of bottlegourd halwa but not ridge gourd payasam 🙂 Been a little busy the past week or so, hence no post. Will be updating it today or tmw – thanks for checking on me. Sweet of you 🙂
Its an unique recipe, never had it before. must have tasted really good.
Ridge gourd payasam never heard it Madhu, i know we make halwa, so it should be a great tasting one ur kheer 😛 Love the idea and looks yum 😛
You are right, even I have been hesitant to make this..
Am inspired seeing yours..
Wow!! Never heard of ridge gourd payasam before.
Also, can you post something with chow chow? I am very new to this vegetable too. Is chow chow and chayote squash same?
Ridge gourd payasam is new to me….Good looking
You try halwa with this one , apparently it comes out well too.
thats awesome looking bowl!..with ridge gourd??..wow… 😛