There are dishes that fill your stomach, and then there are those that fill your soul. Ney Payasam is the latter. Thick, dark, and slow-cooked in ghee and jaggery, it’s more than just a dessert. It is memory. It is grief. It is devotion.
This isn’t the kind of payasam that’s served casually after a feast. Ney Payasam belongs to moments when the air is heavy with incense and silence. It’s offered in temples, especially during rituals like Pooja or prasadam offerings, where food isn’t just food-it becomes language between the living and the divine. The scent of it-cooked raw rice, melting jaggery, generous spoonfuls of ghee-carries through the air like a prayer.
There’s a kind of slowness to Ney Payasam that teaches you something. The rice isn’t just boiled-it’s allowed to soften gently in the thick sweetness, stirred patiently so it doesn’t stick, until it reaches that unmistakable deep bronze hue. Cashews and raisins are sometimes added, but even without them, it tastes complete. The ghee doesn’t just add richness-it gives the payasam its name, its identity, its warmth.
Kamala Das-Madhavikutty-once wrote a haunting story titled Neypayasam, using this humble dish to hold unbearable grief. That’s the kind of emotional weight this payasam carries. It’s thick with more than ghee and jaggery-it holds silence, memory, faith, even sorrow.
Yet, for all its intensity, Ney Payasam is comforting. One spoonful, warm and fragrant, and you feel the hug of a hundred rituals, of generations who stirred it before you. It doesn’t beg for attention. It sits quietly in its steel bowl or banana leaf cup, shining dark and deep, waiting for you to feel its warmth.
You don’t really eat Ney Payasam. You receive it.
Ney Payasam
Ingredients
Instructions
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Ney Payasam or Ghee Kheer is Kerala’s own dessert. Usually its made in temples as an offerings. But today we will make it at home
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For Ney payasam we use Brown Raw rice or Unakkalari . First wash it well, Cook it and keep it aside
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Next we will melt Jaggery. There are two varieties available. The white one and the black one. White jaggery means little yellowish colour
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Stain the Jaggery syrup for impurities and transfer it to Uruli ( a Bowl traditionally payasam is made)
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If Uruli is not available, you can use any thick bottom bowl for this purpose.
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When the Jaggery syrup start to boil, add cooked rice and combine well
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Now you could add Ghee. 2 -3 tablespoon Ghee will be added. If you add more it will be better
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Next add Cardamom powder and mix well
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In a pan heat Ghee. Add coconut stripes and fry it.
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Add banana slices to same Ghee , saute it for some time
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Finally add Coconut stripes and Banana slices along with rest ghee to the Payasam
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You can garnish it with Black Raisins and Rock sugar. Enjoy Ney Payasam