Hayagreeva maddi is a payasa/payasam dish from Udupi region. I made this for Bheemana Amavasya but it can be made for many festivals. It is simple to make, the only detail to pay attention to is when you are cooking gram dal/chana dal/kadale bele. Before we begin the recipe, I would like to mention a little *story/legend* associated with the origin of ‘Hayagreeva Maddi’, I read in a book.
Once there was a sculptor who was trying to make an idol of Lord Ganesha, however all his efforts in making the sculpted idol turned into the head of a horse. He finally gave up and sculpted the idol into the shape of a horses’ head and stashed it away. One night, the Lord himself appeared in the scluptors’ dream and blessed him and asked him to donate the horses’ head idol that he had sculpted to Sri Vadirajaru. The same night Sri Vadirajaru also dreamt about the idol. The next day the sculptor brought in the idol and Sri Vadirajaru established the idol in Sonda in Sirsi, Karnataka. Everyday he started worshipping the idol and as offering/naivedya he made Hayagreeva Maddi a payasa made of gram (horses’ favourite food) and jaggery. Make this authentic and traditional dish from Karnataka for an upcoming festival 🙂
- ½ Cup chana dal/gram dal/kadale bele
- 1½ Cups + little extra of water
- ½ Cup jaggery
- 7-8 powdered elaichi
- 2 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp ghee
- 10-12 broken cashews
- 2 Tbsp raisins
- 1 Tbsp desiccated coconut
- ¼ Cup grated coconut
- ½ Tbsp gasa gase/khus khus/poppy seeds
- Take the chana dal in a vessel, wash it twice and drain off the water
- Add 1½ Cups of water and keep on low flame to cook the dal
- Once dal starts cooking and becomes soft and transparent, check the cooked dal. It should be just soft. You should not overcook or undercook it. Add a little more water if required. This step is very important
- Dry roast khus khus till it releases aroma and slightly changes colour turn off heat and keep aside
- In same pan, roast desiccated coconut with the residual heat. Keep aside
- In another pan, heat 1 Tbsp ghee, add broken cashews and fry till light golden
- Add raisins and fry till they plump up. Keep cashews and raisins aside
- When cool, dry grind roasted khus khus and desiccated coconut into a coarse powder. Keep aside
- In same pan, add 2 Tbsp ghee and add soft jaggery pieces or grated jaggery into the ghee
- Jaggery starts to mix with ghee and melt
- When it completely melts (no need of making a thread syrup, it should melt evenly) turn off heat
- Add dry ground khus khus-coconut mixture. Mix well
- In mixer jar, take 2-3 Tbsp of cooked and cooled gram dal and grated coconut. Grind them without water into a coarse paste
- Put this paste into melted jaggery and mix well
- Now add remaining dal and mix well. Bring back to heat
- Add golden fried cashews. Mix well
- Add elaichi powder and mix well
- When it thickens and reaches desired consistency, turn off heat
- Serve warm or at room temperature
Khus Khus adds a nice flavour to hayagreeva
As mentioned before do NOT overcook or undercook gram dal. Do watch over the dal while cooking it
Dal can also be pressure cooked. Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. Check and steam for extra 5 minutes if it is not cooked. I prefer cooking it outside
 Stepwise:
Take the chana dal in a vessel, wash it twice and drain off the water
Add 1 1/2 Cups of water and keep on low flame to cook the dal
Once dal starts cooking and becomes soft and transparent, check the cooked dal. It should be just soft. You should not overcook or undercook it. Add a little more water if required. This step is very important
Dry roast khus khus till it releases aroma and slightly changes colour turn off heat and keep aside
In same pan, roast desiccated coconut with the residual heat. Keep aside
In another pan, heat 1 Tbsp ghee, add broken cashews and fry till light golden
Add raisins and fry till they plump up. Keep cashews and raisins aside
When cool, dry grind roasted khus khus and desiccated coconut into a coarse powder. Keep aside
In same pan, add 2 Tbsp ghee and add soft jaggery pieces or grated jaggery into the ghee
Jaggery starts to mix with ghee and melt
When it completely melts (no need of making a thread syrup, it should melt evenly) turn off heat
Add dry ground khus khus-coconut mixture. Mix well
In mixer jar, take 2-3 Tbsp of cooked and cooled gram dal and grated coconut. Grind them without water into a coarse paste
Put this paste into melted jaggery and mix well
Now add remaining dal and mix well. Bring back to heat
Add golden fried cashews. Mix well
Add elaichi powder and mix well
When it thickens and reaches desired consistency, turn off heat
Serve warm or at room temperature
