KOCHI: Payasam: That’s the dish for the day. Are you even a Malayali if you haven’t had a taste of it? Because it requires only three ingredients, many believe making the sweet dish is too easy a task. That is until you taste Farsana Shahas’ different varieties of payasams from Taste Trees Payasam Kada at Palarivattom. “Contrary to popular belief, making payasam is not easy. It takes a lot of patience to achieve the right consistency which is not too thick or too runny, and not too sweet,” she says.
Resonating this thought is the aftertaste of the piping hot paalada payasam I enjoyed a few days ago, which still lingers on my palate. And that’s my sweet tooth talking.
Farsana’s tryst with payasam began when her husband Shahas constantly craved for the sweet dish. His appreciation prompted Farsana to let the world taste her very own version of the popular south Indian delicacy. “For the next four years, I set up stalls at different expos in the city. At each venue, my payasams would sell out within hours of opening the stall. And the customers would ask where they can get the payasam outside the expo,” the 39-year-old says.
That’s when she realised that there weren’t many shops in Kochi which exclusively served payasam. In April, Farsana opened her store Taste Trees Payasam Kada on Pipeline Road at Palarivattom.
The store sells six different types of payasams every day including paalada pradhaman, dal, broken wheat, ghee, and vermicelli payasams. “Like we had predicted, the customer favourite is the paalada pradhaman. Elderly customers often call us to compliment me about the dish saying I was able to retain its authenticity,” says Farsana.
Additionally, she also serves fruit payasam. “Initially, it was available for only three days in a week. But the demand increased and now we sell it every day,” says the home chef turned entrepreneur. While a cup of other payasams costs `30, the fruit payasam is sold at `40. A milestone in her food diaries is the opening of a second store at Panampilly Nagar. Both stores are open from 10.30 am to 9.30 pm. But Farsana advises not to go looking for the store during hours nearing closure. “Most of the payasam would be sold out by then,” she says as she chuckles.