Karikku Payasam/Tender Coconut Payasam

Karikku Payasam/Tender Coconut Payasam

Tender Coconut/karikku is a favorite among Malayalees. The water of tender coconut  is refreshing and is a thirst quencher on hot summer days. It is available year around and is used to make several tasty desserts and puddings. Karikku payasam is a simple and quick dessert made with the fleshy meat of the tender coconut along with coconut milk and jaggery. Try this you will surely love it.

Ingredients

Karikku/Tender coconut meat- 1 cup
Tender coconut water- 1 cup
Thick coconut milk- 1 cup

Powdered jaggery- 3/4 cup
(Adjust according to sweetness you prefer)
Water- 3/4 cup
Cardamom crushed- 5-6
Raisins and cashew nuts- a few
Ghee- 2 tsp

In a heavy bottom pan bring 3/4 cup of water and jaggery to a boil. Simmer till it is completely dissolved.Strain the impurities and return to the stove and allow to thicken.

Cook tender coconut meat in coconut water till it becomes soft (note if it is too tender you can skip this step). Pour the jaggery and continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes till the payasam  thickens. Add cardamom powder and finally pour the thick coconut milk and simmer in low flame for one minute.

Heat ghee in a separate pan and fry cashew nuts and raisins till it turns golden brown. Add this to the payasam and mix.Allow to cool and serve.

 Try this
Hope you will all enjoy!

Ahi Poke Napoleon

What is Ahi Poke?  It's a raw (sushi grade) tuna salad served as an appetizer.   I ordered this appetizer at Tommy Bahama Restaurant in Florida, it was so good!  I wanted to try and make it at home and was so excited to find the recipe on Tommy Bahama's website.  Check it out here, and I also came across a youtube video, here.  So now that I had the recipe, I went shopping for the ahi tuna.  I tried Whole Foods first.  The seafood guy was so nice and helpful.  I didn't really know what I was looking for but told him what I was making.  He let me know that I needed sushi grade tuna and where I could get it (Seafood Center) as they didn't have any at the moment.  He did say that he can always get it in if he had a couple days notice.  

  We went to the Seafood Center and they had a beautiful piece of ahi tuna.  It's pricey, $34.99 per lb but you only need 1/2 lbs for 8 servings.  I got 1/4 lb and made two generous portions but for an appetizer size, it would make 4 servings.

So FRESH!

It was fun to make a restaurant dish at home.  Especially because we don't have a Tommy Bahama restaurant in Wisconsin!  Delicious, we enjoyed every bite!

*  I followed the recipe for the tuna and dressing but made my own guacamole.  I also didn't use all the dressing, you just want to use enough dressing to lightly dress the tuna.  Find the recipe here and the YouTube video here.