Wheat Pudding --- Ghavachi Kheer

I was a little worried this time thinking of what to make for 'W' of Indian vegetables, hosted by Nupur of 'One Hot Stove'. Somehow, all the dishes that I had been thinking of seemed more appropriate for 'V' of Indian vegetables, when translated from Marathi to English. This was really frustrating as I had already missed last 2 alphabets of this event! And so, just as I had given up on this time's alphabet too, it struck me, 'W' is for Wheat!!! Yay!!!! Now what? What can I make from wheat besides chapati? And then it was a 'Eureka' moment...Wheat Pudding using Cracked Wheat! It has been a while (almost a year, to be precise) since I made it and my hubby was more than happy to hear of my plan. So here goes...
'Gahu' is the Marathi term for 'Wheat'. I am not aware of a special term for Cracked Wheat other than 'Daliya', and its not unique to Marathi. So 'Wheat Pudding' is simply known as 'Ghavachi kheer' in Marathi. My dad who is born and brought up in Karnataka, calls this 'Godhi Kutta Payasa'. 'Godhi' means wheat in Kannada, and 'Kutta' means crushed or cracked (sort of--more appropriate word is the Marathi term 'Kutlele'). This is a great dish to satisfy your sweet tooth and a good change from the regular 'Shevai (vermicelli) kheer'. This can definitely become a meal on its own (especially for my hubby), but me, I need something savory to go with it; so I tried out Nupur's 'Jhatpat Appey' to go along with this for our dinner. What a great way to end the week! :)

Ingredients: (serves 2-3)
Cracked Wheat 1 cup
Tup (ghee) 1/2 tsp
Milk 1/2 cup + 2 cups
Water 1/2 cup
Gul (jaggery) 4-5 tbsp or to taste
Veldoda powder (cardamom) 1/2 tsp
Naral (grated coconut) about 1/4 cup
Khuskhus (poppy seeds) 1 tbsp
Bedane (Raisins) about 1 tbsp
Kaju (Cashews) about 1-2 tbsp

Method:
In a pan, heat the tup (ghee) and then sautee the cracked wheat just as you would for Shevai Kheer (Vermicelli).

Now, transfer this to a pressure cooker vessel and add 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup water and cook in pressure cooker for upto 3 whistles.

While it is cooking, in a pan, sautee the grated coconut till the moisture evaporates and keep aside. Next sautee the poppy seeds a little and add to the sauteed coconut. Fry the raisins and cashews in a little bit of ghee, this way they will plump up and give a great flavour to the kheer. Keep aside.

Once the cracked wheat is cooked and ready, transfer to a saucepan and add about 2 cups milk. If you find that the kheer is very thick in consistency add more milk. This kheer tends to thicken as it cools, so it is better to add extra milk. Heat the kheer on the stove and to this add the jaggery. Once the jaggery is mixed in properly, check for taste and add more jaggery if required. Add the cardamom powder. Finally, mix in the coconut, poppy seeds, raisins and cashews. Serve hot with some tup (ghee) over it.