In the mood to indulge in some creamy, rich payasam? No longer do you have to wait for a festive occasion to gorge on payasams. Now, you can have it at any time, thanks to umpteen ‘payasakada’ (an outlet selling payasam) in the city that sell several varieties of payasam all the year around. While Makachiyude Payasakada, Ambi’s Kitchen, Anandam Takeaway and Payasakada, and AP’s Payasakada specialise in payasam, several bakeries and home chefs stock payasams every day. Now that the 10-day Onam festivities have begun, one is spoilt for choice with different kinds of payasams for sale.
Makachiyude Payasakada, a non-descript, wayside shop near the roundabout at Vellayambalam junction, is perhaps the first street joint in the city for payasams. When it was opened in 2018 by Preethamol P and her husband, Rajesh Thankachan, it functioned only in the evenings. Now it is open from 11am to 11pm on all days, except Mondays. “With more payasam outlets opening in the city, we are feeling the competition. But then we have a steady clientele and that’s our strength,” says Preetha, whose nickname Makachi has become the name of the shop.
Her regular menu has paal payasam (rice cooked in milk and sugar), gothambu (wheat) payasam, ada pradhaman (steamed rice flour flakes cooked in jaggery and coconut milk), and kadala (Bengal gram) payasam. There are two specials every day — paalada (ada cooked in milk) or semiya (vermicelli) payasam and a fruit-based payasam. “Among the fruit payasams, we have ones with dates, jackfruit, mangoes, bananas, mixed fruits, etc. Another variety is navarasa payasam, which has lentils, pulses, and five to six varieties of fruits, besides millet payasam, bamboo rice payasam etc,” says Preetha.
Payasams galore
Millet Payasam Mela at Pathayam Millet Cafe on August 25 and 26. Eight varieties made with finger millet, sorghum, pearl millet, little millet, foxtail millet, barnyard millet, kodo millet and browntop millet will be available. Priced from ₹200 to ₹300 per litre. For bookings, 9387391082, 0471-2320187.
Square One Home Made Treats’ Payasam Mela is from August 23 to 28. The varieties available are ada, paalada, rice, kadala, green gram, wheat, semiya, jackfruit, banana, pineapple and oats. It is priced from ₹100 onwards for 250 grams. Contact: 9495400800.
Kerala Tourism Development Corporation conducts payasam festivals at its hotels, Mascot Hotel and Grand Chaithram till August 29. Varieties include ada, kadala, paalada, paal payasam, navarasa payasam, carrot, pineapple, banana and mango. Cost is ₹420 per litre. Contact: 0471- 2330977 (Chaithram), 0471- 2318990 (Mascot).
Payasam festival will be on at Supreme Bakers, Kuravankonam, and Supreme Gourmet, Kowdiar, till August 25. Ada, paal, gothambu, parippu, jackfruit, paalada, kadala and semiya will be available. Contact: 9037569449 (Supreme Bakers, Kuravankonam ) or 8089239922 (Supreme Gourmet, Kowdiar).
Anandam Caterers, one of the leading catering firms in the city, opened their payasakada in 2018. “We have a strong customer base for the payasams. Ada pradhaman, paal payasam and kadala payasam are prepared daily. Availability of other varieties, such as gothambu, paalada, pazham (banana) etc depends on the catering orders for that day,” says Rajalakshmy, who runs the venture.
Ada pradhaman from Anandam Takeaway and Payasakada in Thiruvananthapuram | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The task was cut out for Mahesh Sivaraman when he started Ambi’s Kitchen (Ambi is his son’s nickname) at Manacaud three years ago. His speciality is paalada, while the city’s signature dessert is paal payasam and boli, the sweet lentil crepe.
Mahesh Sivaraman at his shop, Ambi's Kitchen, Manacaud in Thiruvananthapuram | Photo Credit: ASWIN VN
“I hail from the city, but I lived in Tripunithura [near Kochi] for over 25 years, where I developed a passion for catering. Paalada is the top preference in Ernakulam and so I tried that here, preparing the dessert with homemade ada. It is now available as the Sunday special at our shop, while paal payasam is available on all days,” says Mahesh. Wheat, parippu (split green gram) and kadala payasams are prepared on special occasions. Mango and jackfruit payasams depend on the availability of the fruit.
AP’s Payasakada is the latest addition to payasam shops. But for the pandemic, S Prabhakumari and her husband, N Anilkumar, would not have started this business. “While I work as a health worker with a hospital, my husband used to run a hardware shop, which had to be shut down during the pandemic. We were in a deep financial crisis. Finally, we opened a shop selling payasam at Valiyasala last year. The business was not profitable initially. But gradually we got more customers and opened the second branch at Kaithamukku,” Prabha says. Three months ago, they opened branches along Museum-Nanthancode road and Maruthamkuzhy. Four varieties are available on all days. While ada pradhaman and kadala are prepared on all days, the other two could be paal payasam, paalada, semiya, peanut, carrot or wheat.
Paalada being filled into container at Ambi's Kitchen, Manacaud, Thiruvananthapuram | Photo Credit: ASWIN VN
Kadala payasam is the hot-seller, say all the shop owners. “There have been days when we had to prepare the payasam twice on the same day and we sold around 25 to 30 litres,” Preetha says.
Pazham payasam from Anandam Takeaway and Payasakada in Thiruvananthapuram | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
At Pathayam Millet Cafe on Government Press Road, millet payasam is integral to the daily menu, which is made with one of the eight millet varieties. Payasam is a weekly special at Square One Homemade Treats. “We serve ada pradhaman on Saturdays. This started 15 years ago,” says Georgina Shiju, store manager.
Maha Chips/Maha Boli, Sree Nandas, Divine Sweets and Jai Sitha Sweets are among other places where payasams are sold on all days. While a glass of payasam costs ₹30 at most of these places, the rate per litre starts at ₹250 and goes up to ₹300.
