Javvarisi Payasam | Sago Kheer | Saggubiyyam Payasam

Javvarisi Payasam or Sago Kheer aka Saggubiyyam Payasam is a simple sweet pudding prepared with milk, sugar and tapioca pearls.

Javvarisi Payasam or Saggubiyyam Payasam

Kheer or Payasam is one of the quintessential recipes, in particular, on the festive days. And the South Indian Thali is incomplete without the kheer or payasam. When I was browsing through my payasam archives, I realized that I hadn’t posted the sago kheer or javvarisi payasam as we say in Tamil. Sago Kheer is my go to neivediyam recipes on most of my Thursday pooja. Sago is the tapioca pearl, and it is one of the widely used food ingredients during fasting days. With Holi festival coming up, I thought of posting it sooner than later. :-)

Sago Kheer

For this recipe, I did not use evaporated milk or condensed milk and no ghee either. All I used was milk, sugar, tapioca pearl, nuts and cardamom powder. This kheer is a simple five ingredient fix.  Just to bring out the colors, I used custard powder and saffron strands to decorate, but that’s entirely optional.

One thing to note is that this recipe involves soaking time. Tapioca pearls have to be soaked for a minimum of 2 hrs. For this recipe, I  soaked for 2 hours. Once soaked, preparing this kheer is very simple. Without any further ado, here is the recipe.

Javvarisi Payasam | Sago Kheer | Saggubiyyam Payasam Recipe

Ingredients:

• Sago/Javvarisi – ½ cup
• Water for soaking
• Milk – 4 cups
• Custard Powder – 1 tsp
• (optional, 2 tbsps of lukewarm water to mix the custard powder)
• Elaichi Powder – 1 tsp
• Nuts of your choice (I used five almonds and five pistachios, finely chopped)
• Sugar – ¾ cup
• Saffron to garnish

Prep – work:

• Wash and soak the tapioca pearls for at least 2 hours.
• Drain the water and set aside.

• Mix the custard powder in 2 tbsps of water and set aside. I directly added the custard powder, but I would recommend mixing the custard powder with water or milk.
• Chop the nuts and set aside.

Steps:

• In a heavy bottom vessel, boil the 4 cups of milk. 
• As small bubble starts to form, add the drained tapioca. (I did not let the milk to boil completely)
• Let the tapioca cook in the milk under medium heat. Keep stirring the milk for every 2 to 3 minutes.

• In about 7 to 8, minutes the tapioca will be cooked.  Once cooked, the tapioca will be soft and shiny like below. When you press, it should be soft but not squishy. 

• At this stage, add the sugar, cardamom powder and the custard mix. 
• Combine all the ingredients and let it simmer on low flame until the sugar is dissolved.

• Once the sugar is dissolved, turn the heat off and add the chopped nuts.

• Garnish with saffron and serve hot or warm.

Notes:

• As I mentioned in the prep-work, I added the custard powder directly by mistake and had to whisk the kheer nicely to avoid the lump formation. So please mix the custard in luke-warm water or milk and add it to the kheer.
• Adjust the sugar and nuts as per your preference.
• Custard powder is optional.
• You can temper the nuts in ghee and add it to the kheer. As we prefer this kheer cold, I avoid the ghee tempering.
• Tapioca and custard thicken the kheer. So if required add more warm milk before serving.  Sometimes, I serve this cold topped with ice cream. :-) 

Enjoying Javvarisi Payasam aka Sago Kheer aka Saggubiyyam Payasam? You will love these, too:

• Aval Payasam | Poha Kheer | Flattened Rice Pudding
• Microwave Fruit Custard
• Homemade Custard Ice-Cream with Tutti Frutti
• Rice Kheer
• Chettinad Biryani Platter | Weekend Special Biryani Platter

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Javvarisi Payasam | Sago Kheer | Saggubiyyam Payasam

Javvarisi Payasam or Sago Kheer aka Saggubiyyam Payasam is a simple sweet pudding prepared with milk, sugar and tapioca pearls.

Prep Time2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: South Indian

Servings: 4

Calories: 361kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup Sago/Javvarisi
• ▢ Water for soaking
• ▢ 4 cups Milk
• ▢ 1 tsp Custard Powder
• ▢ optional, 2 tbsps of lukewarm water to mix the custard powder
• ▢ 1 tsp Elaichi Powder
• ▢ Nuts of your choice I used five almonds and five pistachios, finely chopped
• ▢ ¾ cup Sugar
• ▢ Saffron to garnish

Instructions

Prep - work

• Wash and soak the tapioca pearls for at least 2 hours.
• Drain the water and set aside.
• Mix the custard powder in 2 tbsps of water and set aside. I directly added the custard powder, but I would recommend to mix the custard powder with water or milk.
• Chop the nuts and set aside.

Steps

• In a heavy bottom vessel, boil the 4 cups of milk.
• As small bubble starts to form, add the drained tapioca. (I did not let the milk to boil completely)
• Let the tapioca cook in the milk under medium heat. Keep stirring the milk for every 2 to 3 minutes.
• In about 7 to 8, minutes the tapioca will be cooked. Once cooked, the tapioca will be soft and shiny and transparent like below. When you press, it should be soft but not squishy.
• At this stage, add the sugar, cardamom powder and the custard mix.
• Combine all the ingredients and let it simmer on low flame until the sugar is dissolved.
• Once the sugar is dissolved, turn the heat off and add the chopped nuts.
• Garnish with saffron and serve hot or warm.

Notes

• As I mentioned in the prep-work, I added the custard powder directly by mistake and had to whisk the kheer nicely to avoid the lump formation. So please mix the custard in luke-warm water or milk and add it to the kheer.
• Adjust the sugar and nuts as per your preference.
• You can temper the nuts in ghee and add it to the kheer. As we prefer this kheer cold, I avoid the ghee tempering.
• Custard powder is optional.
• Tapioca and custard thicken the kheer. So if required add more warm milk before serving. Sometimes, I serve this cold topped with ice cream. :-)

Nutrition

Calories: 361kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 134mg | Potassium: 322mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 50g | Vitamin A: 395IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 279mg | Iron: 1mg

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.

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