Semiya Payasam (Kheer) with Carrot and Pumpkin

I thought I would start my blogging journey by posting a very nutritious and healthy sweet dish.  It's a great way to sneak in some veggies.  I did not add any kind of food color.  The color you see in the picture comes from yellow pumpkin and carrots.  To my surprise, my soon to be a teenager son, who never had  payasam before, was so eager to drink it.  He could'nt wait for me to finish the photography session.  

This is my very first post.  So, please feel free to give me any suggestions on blogging or photography.  I am very happy and excited to be in the blogging world.


See you guys soon with a new recipe.  Have a great week end.

Ingredients:

Carrots - 2 peeled & roughly chopped
Pumpkin - 1/2 cup chopped
Milk - 2 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cup or 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
Semiya (vermicelli) - 1 cup
Cardamom (Elachi) - 2
Some cashew nuts and raisins
Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1 tsp
Procedure:  

Pressure cook the carrots and pumpkin with milk in a vessel for 2 or 3 whistles.  Meanwhile, roast the semiya in little ghee and set it aside.  You can get already roasted semiya in stores nowadays. Remove the cooked vegetables and grind them to a smooth paste.  You can add little milk that is used to boil the veggies.  Cook the semiya in water or milk.  Now add the milk, veggie paste and sugar or the condensed milk.  Let it boil unitl the sugar dissolves.  Now add the crushed elachi.  Adjust the  sugar level according to your taste.   Finally, roast cashew nuts and raisins in 1tsp of ghee and mix it in the payasam.
Chill and serve.