Gasagase payasa, or poppy seeds kheer, is a healthy and soothing kheer prepared with the goodness of poppy seeds, coconut, and jaggery. This easy-to-make rich and creamy delicacy from Karnataka is apt for all festival occasions, and needless to say, it is perfect for Ugadi. Check out the detailed Gasagase Payasa / Poppy Seeds Kheer recipe with step-by-step pictures.
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Next, to aval payasam, my go-to payasam recipe on festival days is the gasagase or the poppy seeds payasam. It is creamy, rich, delicious, and easy to make on weekday mornings. So there is no reason to say no to this kheer. :-) With minimal ingredients, you can prepare this kheer in no time.
If you follow me on IG, you will notice that the gasagase payasam will be on my Ugadi menu. As always, some recipes take their own time to show up on this blog, and this is one such recipe. Even though it is a staple in our household, it took me a while to post this.
Usage of poppy seeds
Poppy seeds have high alkaloids that are calming, helping with better sleep. Poppy seeds are great coolants, so preparing and consuming this kheer during summer will greatly help our body. But as the saying goes, too much of anything is good for nothing. So keep the quantity at bay, and your body will thank you.
Ingredients required
- Poppy seeds are the key ingredients; we need the white ones for this kheer. Use the good quality ones without rancid taste.
- Along with poppy seeds, we also need a small quantity of raw rice to help thicken the kheer.
- We need fresh or frozen coconut for added flavor. Regarding flavor, we also need ground cardamom or freshly crushed cardamom pods.
- And to sweeten the gasagase payasa, we need jaggery.
- Finally, to garnish, we need some cashews and ghee to temper.
Apart from these ingredients, we also need water. Please check the recipe card for exact measurements.
Dietary specifications
While this kheer doesn’t call for milk, we use ghee to temper nuts. You can skip the nuts and tempering part to make this kheer nut-free and vegan. Naturally, this kheer is gluten-free.
How to make gasagase payasa
- Dry roast the poppy seeds and rice in a pan or kadai without adding oil or ghee until you get an aroma over medium heat. Do not let the poppy seeds brown.
- Turn off the heat, add the coconut, and let it cool. We don’t need to roast the coconut.
- Meanwhile, heat 2 cups of water and add the jaggery. Let the jaggery dissolve, and if there are any impurities, turn off the heat, strain the jaggery water to filter it out, and return it to the same pan.
- Let the jaggery water simmer for a couple of minutes.
- While it is simmering, grind the roasted poppy seeds, rice, and coconut into a fine paste by adding ½ cup of water.
- Add this ground paste to the jaggery water. Add ½ more cup of water. I usually rinse the mixer with this additional water and add it to the kheer.
- Add the cardamom powder and let the kheer simmer for 5 to 7 minutes over low-medium heat.
- Heat ghee and roast the cashews until brown in a separate tempering pan.
- Once the cashews turn brown, add them to the kheer and enjoy the kheer warm.
Recipe Notes
- I have used more jaggery for this measure as we prefer it that way, especially for this kheer. But you can adjust according to your preference.
- Also, you can use more coconut, or along with cashews, you can roast coconut and raisins and add them to the kheer.
- I won’t recommend using black poppy seeds for this kheer.
More kheer recipes
- Mixed Nuts Kheer | Vegan Kheer Recipes
- Vegan Sweet Potato Kheer | Shakarkandi Kheer
- Rava Payasam | Sooji Kheer
- Pasi Paruppu Payasam | Moong Dal Kheer | Paruppu Payasam
📖 Recipe
Gasagase Payasa | Poppy Seeds Kheer
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 tbsp=240ml; 1 tbsp = 15ml; 1 tsp = 5ml;
- 3 tbsps poppy seeds white poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp rice
- 3 tbsp coconut grated
- 1 cup jaggery
- 3 cups water
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tsp ghee
- 2 tbsp cashew pieces or 5 to 6 cashews
Instructions
- Dry roast the poppy seeds and rice in a pan or kadai without adding oil or ghee until you get an aroma over medium heat. Do not let the poppy seeds brown.
- Turn off the heat, add the coconut, and let it cool. We don’t need to roast the coconut.
- Meanwhile, heat 2 cups of water and add the jaggery. Let the jaggery dissolve, and if there are any impurities, turn off the heat, strain the jaggery water to filter it out, and return it to the same pan.
- Let the jaggery water simmer for a couple of minutes.
- While it is simmering, grind the roasted poppy seeds, rice, and coconut into a fine paste by adding ½ cup of water.
- Add this ground paste to the jaggery water. Add ½ more cup of water. I usually rinse the mixer with this additional water and add it to the kheer.
- Add the cardamom powder and let the kheer simmer for 5 to 7 minutes over low-medium heat.
- Heat ghee and roast the cashews until brown in a separate tempering pan.
- Once the cashews turn brown, add them to the kheer and enjoy the kheer warm.
Notes
- I have used more jaggery for this measure as we prefer it that way, especially for this kheer. But you can adjust according to your preference.
- Also, you can use more coconut, or along with cashews, you can roast coconut and raisins and add them to the kheer.
- I won’t recommend using black poppy seeds for this kheer.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Update notes – This recipe was originally published on March 2018. Now updated with recipe card and nutrition information.
Gotta get white poppy seed, before they turn black. I find poppy seed hard to grind, easy to overtoast. the addition of coconut seems to keep these little guys from avoiding the processors blades, I suspect an appropriate mortar is most effective. I reduced amount of jaggery, increase amont of poppy seed (khaskhas?), And substitute chashews for sunflower seed, ghee for sesame… Yumyum
Awesome. Thanks for the feedback. Glad it all worked out.
I would never think of using poppy seeds in a kheer but this is one I definitely would love to try
Please do try Mir. I am sure you will love it.
That looks scrumptious dear! we dont get poppy seeds here, i can enjoy only when i m in chennai! would love to try this when i m there!!!
Recently learned that poppy seeds are banned in few countries… Hope you can try in Chennai. Thanks, Priya.
I have never made a poppy seeds kheer. This looks so rich and very inviting. Bookmarking to try soon.
Thanks, Sapana. Please do try. :-) You will like it.
That looks likea very rich kheer. I love the flavour of poppy seeds and love the use of jaggery in indian sweets. Perfect for my taste buds
Thank you, Jyoti.
Great dish for karanataka..This is one awesome kheer !! You know what i too made this.. Will be posting it for the Mega Marathon!!
Oh nice…. Can’t wait to see your version. :-)
I would love to try this kheer . I am a big time fan of kheer and this one sounds absolutely delicious . We can omit jaggery and add sugar , right ?
Oh yeah. You can add that. Jaggery provides that bit of iron content along with poppy seeds but no harm in adding sugar though.
Absolutely delicious
Thank you :-)
I never tasted poppy seed kheer but seen many recipes online. Looks great
Thanks, Usha. Please try it out. You will like it.
Looks beautiful
Thanks a lot.