Avantika's Kitchen Delights: Madgane

Madgane (Pronounced as ‘Mad - ga - ne’) is a traditional dessert from Konkan region of Indian prepared during festivals like Ugadi / Gudi Padva. The main ingredient used in the preparation of this recipe is Split Chickpeas / Chana Dal. Hence the name Chana Dal Kheer or Payasam. Other ingredients used are Jaggery for sweetness and Coconut Milk for extra richness. Many people use Semolina or Rice flour for adjusting the thickness of the kheer. However I have tried using whole rice instead. This is how my recipe turned out to be little different from other recipe writers.

Check out the complete list of ingredients.

INGREDIENTS :

(1) 125 gms of Chana dal / Split Chickpeas

(2) 85 gms of Rice (I used fragrant Basmati rice, can use regular rice)

(3) 100 gms of Grated Jaggery (Depending on sweetness required)

(4) Coconut Milk powder (Of Maggi brand)

(5) 1/4 teaspoon of Cardamom powder

(6) Cashews

(7) Raisins

(8) Ghee / Clarified butter

Gathered together all the ingredients for Madgane

Cuisine : Konkani, South Indian

Serves : 4 persons

Time : 40 minutes

METHOD :

(1) Wash the chana dal, drain water and keep aside.

Washed Chana dal

(2) Take 1 tablespoon of ghee / clarified butter in a pressure cooker.

Add 1 tablespoon of ghee into the pressure cooker

Add the washed chana dal and rice to the warm ghee and roast for 5 minutes or till it gives a good aroma. You can first add chana dal roast it for two minutes and then add rice and roast together for another 3 minutes, which is what I did.

Add washed Chana dal to the warm melted ghee

Roast the Chana dal in the ghee

Add washed Rice to the ghee and chana dal

Roast the Rice and Chana dal together in ghee

Roasted Chana dal and Rice for 5 minutes

(3) After roasting, add 2 glasses of water to it and cook it in a pressure cooker for 4 whistles or until dal is cooked but not mushy (Dal should not lose its shape). Allow the pressure cooker to release its pressure on its own.

Add 2 glasses of water to the roasted Chana dal and Rice

Pressure cook Chana dal and Rice for 4 whistles

(4) After opening the lid of the pressure cooker as most of the water had dried up while cooking and the resulting mixture of cooked chana dal and rice was dry, I added 2 more glasses of water.

Added 2 glasses of water

(5) Now again turn on the gas and add grated Jaggery. Keep stirring constantly.

(6) Once the Jaggery melts, prepare Coconut Milk using the readymade Coconut milk powder. Add the Coconut Milk powder to half a glass of water and mix well.

(7) Add this Coconut Milk to the kheer and mix well.

(8) Then add 1/4 teaspoon of Cardamom powder and mix well again.

(9) Bring the entire mixture to a boil until a desired consistency is reached.

(10) Take 1 teaspoon of ghee in a tempering ladle. Add slit cashews to the warm ghee and slightly fry for few seconds. Make sure it should be golden brown and not too dark. Then add some raisins and quickly turn off the gas stove.