Shimpiyan Kheeri

                             Shimpian Kheeri is a very traditional & almost forgotten Payasu , It’s almost similar to Polyan Kheeri which is also included in this blog !Little blobs of rice dough cooked in sweet coconut milk give an awesome taste !This dish is made for special lunches & during festivals .Some make this for Janmastami too . Do try out this recipe !

Ingredients :- 

• Raw rice – 1 cup
• Grated Coconut – 1/4 cup
• Coconut milk from 1 large coconut  or 2 cups of milk from store bought readymade Packets
• Pinch of salt
• Jaggery –  1 cup of grated jaggery
• Cardamom – 1 tsp
• Cashews & kishmish for garnish ( optional )

Method :-

1. Soak the raw rice for 2-3 hours .Then grind to a smooth paste with the grated coconut adding very little water to a thick dough . ( Check notes for tip) .                   
2. Now pinching of a little of the dough – make tiny balls  and flatten them in the centre – make the shimpis  as tiny as possible because they will swell up when we  cook them.
3. With  the second & third  extracts of the coconut milk – add jaggery & bring to a boil(check notes for procedure of extracting Coconut milk)                                                                                                                   
4. Now drop one by one of the shimpis in the boiling sweet milk .
5. Keep the flame on medium &  note that when you drop the shimpi – the coconut milk is boiling ,,,If not wait till it boils & then add , Once you  drop them , they should immediately rise to the top ! Only then they will cook well without breaking up and creating a mess ! Once all the shimpis have been added – let them cook on low flame for about 6-8 minutes . Once they have cooked ,  add the first coconut milk & some cashewnuts & kishmish(optional ) . 

Notes :- 

1. Instead of grinding rice – You may grind only the coconut to a smooth paste & add about half a cup of rice flour and knead to a soft dough .
2. Use only the white part of coconut  to grind to get a white dough ‘
3. For extracting milk – Grate the coconut and adding a cup of water grind it to a smooth paste . Strain it  to get the first milk , Keep the first milk  aside . Now to the strained coconut extract – add one more cup of water & grind , Strain again to get the the second milk . Do this once again to get the third milk . Mix these two last milks  & add the jaggery
4.  If you are using store bought  Coconut milk powder – Make a thinner milk to boil with the jaggery & add a thicker milk at the end .
5. Colour of the dish depends on the jaggery you use – a darker coloured jaggery will give a deeper colour !( I used a light colored jaggery )