Javvarisi Payasam is an Indian tapioca pudding that is scented with cardamom, contains no eggs, uses evaporated milk, and has a buttery raisin and nut topping. It's the perfect warm and comforting winter dessert.
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Payasam is an Indian pudding that is slightly runnier than the American pudding counterpart. It is usually served as a warm dessert and it can be flavored with different spices like cardamom or saffron. This recipe is for one that has chewy tapioca pearls, but another common payasam is pal payasam which uses rice instead.
Tips for buying/cooking tapioca
- If buying tapioca at an Indian store, look for the words sabudana or javvarisi, which are both words for tapioca.
- If buying tapioca at an American store, opt for the smaller sized tapioca balls. The general rule of thumb is the bigger the tapioca balls, the longer it will take to cook them. I prefer Bob's Red Mill.
- Avoid using instant tapioca if you are looking for a bouncy and chewy tapioca texture.
- Allow the tapioca balls to soak in water before cooking them on the stove. This helps the pearls hydrate and decreases the time to cook them on the stove.
- Test the tapioca doneness and chewiness before adding the milk into the pudding.
Buy Now → Evaporated milk is the key to easy tapioca pudding
Whenever I make Indian desserts like pistachio kulfi or pal payasam, my secret ingredient is evaporated milk. Evaporated milk is milk that has much of the water content cooked out, which saves time compared to regular milk, which requires time and patience to slowly boil the water out. In addition, evaporated milk doesn't have added sugar, unlike its sweetened condensed counterpart, which means that you can control exactly how much sugar goes into your pudding.
Javvarisi Payasam | Eggless Tapioca Pudding with Raisins
Product Reccs
Ingredients
- ½ cup (180 g) Bob's Red Mill tapioca pearls
- 4 cups water
- 1 12oz can evaporated milk
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 3 tablespoons butter salted
- 3 tablespoons (24 g) raisins
- 1 tablespoon chopped nuts like pistachios, cashews, or slivered almonds
Instructions
- Add tapioca pearls to a medium saucepan. Add water and allow to sit for 15 minutes to give time for the tapioca pearls to soak and slightly soften.
- Important: Look at the back of your tapioca pearl brand to see if it has suggested cook time. The cook time varies greatly depending on if you have larger tapioca balls vs. smaller vs. instant cook tapioca. The instructions given are for Bob's Red Mill brand.This recipe uses water to boil the tapioca pearls at a higher temperature for a lower amount of time. Place the saucepan with the tapioca pearls on the stove on medium-high heat and bring the water to a rolling boil. Once the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to medium and allow the pearls to cook for another 10-15 minutes. Make sure to stir the pot with a rubber spatula periodically throughout this process to prevent the tapioca from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Take a small spoonful of tapioca pearls and taste test to see if they are chewy and cooked through. If not, continue to cook for a bit longer.
- Turn down the heat to medium-low; add evaporated milk, sugar, salt, and cardamom powder to the saucepan; and mix. Simmer the mixture for 5-7 minutes, making sure to continuously stir to ensure that the milk doesn’t burn at the bottom of the pan. Payasam is a looser and thinner consistency pudding that is similar to sago and isn't as thick as American puddings. If you want the payasam to be thicker, simmer for a longer period of time for a thicker and creamier payasam. Turn off the heat.
- Make the Topping:Take a small saucepan and place on the stove on medium-low heat. Add the butter to the pan and allow the butter to melt and start to bubble. Add raisins and nuts of your choice in the butter. Roast for 2-3 minutes or until the raisins plump up and the nuts have a light brown color to them. Turn off the heat.
- Spoon the butter, raisin, and nut mixture on top of the payasam and serve warm.
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