Payasam

"Seize the moment.  Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart."

Payasam, or kheer, is a milk-based Indian dessert.  Unlike most Indian sweets, it doesn't have that terrible cloying sugariness.  One of my favorite childhood desserts.

4 cups milk (the more milkfat, the better)
1/4 cup small tapioca pearls
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/3 cup purple or golden raisins
1/3 cup cashews
6 cardamom pods
Pinch saffron

Scald milk over medium heat until just steaming.  Be sure to constantly scrape the bottom of the pan to avoid sticking and burning.

Add tapioca pearls and sugar and continue to cook and stir.

Heat butter in a small skillet over medium heat.  When the butter begins to foam, add raisins and cashews.  Cook until cashews are golden and raisins are puffy.

Cook the tapioca until the pearls are almost totally transparent and the cores are just barely white.  This will give the pearls a chewy, not mushy, texture.

Add the raisins and cashews to the milk.

At this point, the milk should be reduced and thickened.

Crack open cardamom pods and grind seeds into a fine powder.

Add cardamom powder and saffron and stir.

I always put out a bowl for my grandmother.  It was one of her favorites.