Red aval payasam is a vegan kheer recipe made with coconut milk. Payasam or kheer, is a milk based dessert very popular in India.
Payasam, no south-indian feast is complete without this king. The first dish served on the banana leaf is payasam on the right hand corner, symbolizing a sweet beginning.

Payasam, or paayasam is a milk based dessert which gets made in every Indian Kitchen. We never need an occassion to make kheer. Like at my mom’s place, she makes kheer/payasam every friday as an offering after her pooja.
Some like me make kheer just to exhaust extra milk. We don’t need any specific festivity to make kheer, but if there is a festival we make more than just kheer. Red poha/rice flakes is made of red rice and doesn’t have much of processing like its white counterpart. I buy equal amounts of both white and red aval for my cooking.
i usually make aval payasam with cow’s milk and sugar or jaggery. But, this time i made it using coconut milk, and my god what a flavor?? lip-smacking, good. It is light on your tummy, with every sip bursting with coconutty flavor. I have used store-bought coconut milk for making this, i m sure homemade milk, would up this kheer to another level.
I like using aval/poha for making payasam as it takes very less time to cook and almost resembles rice in kheer. The plumped aval in the kheer along with sugar or jaggery tastes more than yummy.

It takes only 15-20 minutes to make this droolicious dessert. Do try and let me know how you liked it
Some More Payasam Recipes
The ingredients
- Poha/Aval/Rice Flakes, I have used red aval/poha in the recipe. You can also use white aval/poha or any other rice flakes you have in hand. Generally rice flakes take very less time to cook, make sure you know the cooking time of the rice flakes you are using as there many varieties of the same.
- Coconut Milk, i have used store bough coconut milk. I usually use Earth Finest Organic Coconut milk for my cooking. Incase i dont get my brand, i use KLF Brand coconut milk.
- The recipe needs thin coconut milk for cooking the poha/rice flakes and finally thick coconut milk is added while finishing the kheer. I divide and use entire can of coconut milk, diluting accordingly.
- Sweetener, i have used jaggery to sweeten the kheer in the recipe. You can also use sugar, but i recommend jaggery as they give a nice taste combined with coconut milk.
- Cardamom is used to flavor the kheer. Chopped nuts and raisins are for garnish.

Red Aval Payasam|Red Rice flakes Kheer
Ingredients
- 1 cup Red Poha/Red Aval White poha can also be used
- 1.5 cup thin coconut milk
- 1 cup thick coconut milk
- ¾ cup grated jaggery
- 3-4 nos cardamom pods, seeds alone crushed
- 2 nos cloves crushed
- 1 tbsp raisins
- handful of broken cashew nuts
- ghee/oil for frying the nuts and raisins use oil for vegan version
Instructions
- In a wide pan, add a tsp of oil/ghee and roast the cashew-nuts and raisins. Once they turn golden brown and raisins plump up, remove it from the pan to a plate. Keep aside until use.
- To the same pan, add poha/red aval and roast until they turn crisp. Keep the flame simmer and keep stirring to avoid burning of the aval.
- To the roasted aval, add thin coconut milk and let it cook in a simmer flame, until poha turn soft and mushy. Doesn't take too long, maximum 8-10 minutes, it will be done.
- While the poha is cooking, take the grated jaggery in a pan, add 1/4 cup of water and heat, let it melt completely, strain for impurities and keep it ready for use.
- Do not add more water here to melt the jaggery. As this would be added back to kheer, it might thin the kheer and will take a bit of time to boil and reduce.
- Once the poha/aval is cooked, add the strained jaggery to the payasam, let it cook for another 8-10 minutes. Add crushed cardamoms now.
- After 10 minutes, add the thick coconut milk. Let it sit on the stove for another 5 minutes for the flavors to mingle.
- Do not allow it to boil, let it be on simmer flame. Remove it from the stove, add roasted cashew-nuts on top and serve warm.
If you have tried this recipe and like it, give it a star rating or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #icampinmmykitchen and tagging me @priyasrinivasan
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So beautifully done priya…love the setup…btw I am reminded of Hari Om!
Payasam looks delicious Priya, love the entire setup, it's divine.
Payasam looks delicious. I never seen red poha. Will have to check next time I do my Indian groceries.
Simply love anything cooked with coconut milk, Payasam looks fabulous and super rich.
Coconut milk adds a rich flavor to kheer and the pay as am must have tasted yummy. Love the image capturing the agarbathi smoke.
The set up look so divine just as the payasam !!
Beautiful and what a coincidence I did the same today too.
Beautiful snaps Priya. Aval payasam sounds so yum with coconut milk..
What a yummy looking kheer Priya. I've fallen in love with coconut milk based desserts too — so much more flavor than the regular dairy milk ones.
The payasam is amazing. I loved the setup, especially the incense in the background 🙂
Aval payasam looks so rich and tasty.Love the agarbati picture.
I always make with white one never had red pihak. Looks delicious
Aval paysam is one of my favorite and I always make it using coconut milk. It gives a very nice flavor and texture . Loved your beautiful and divine backdrop .
I also prefer payasams made with coconut milk.Aval payasam looks super delicious and perfect for prasadams
Aval payasam looks delicious and it must taste yum with coconut milk. Lovely pics.
Your kheer looks creamy and delicious. You are so right – we never need an excuse for making kheer!! Its one of those dishes which we can enjoy hot or cold.
Lovely aval payasam with jaggery. Addition of coconut milk has enhanced the taste of it.
Making kheer with poha or aval is a very good idea. I’ve yet to try using red rice poha. This kheer with coconut milk and poha sounds very delicious. Perfect for any festival celebration.
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Love coconut milk addition to the Paysam. I never had it but it sounds very similar to Kheer.
Payasam looks really delicious Priya. Loved the entire setup, it looks simply divine.
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Coconut milk is something I use often but never tried making with poha. Sounds delicious. Next grocery trip will check if the red poha is available. Generally, we get after dusherra. Sounds simple yet delicious.
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I always love coconut milk in anything. It adds rich taste to the payasam. Aval payasam with lot of cashews looks absolutely delicious. Please pass that bowl.