Gasagase Payasa Poppy Seeds Kheer

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.