Kheer

Made with rice and milk, kheer is the most popular pudding in India. Although it’s referred to as rice pudding, it bears no resemblance to the Western baked rice pudding. Kheer has a creamy texture, and is lightly sweetened, and is usually flavored with ground cardamom or rose water.

In the South, this rice pudding is known as sweet pongal, and is made with rice, moong dal, and jaggery or sugar. Kheer or payasam is also a generic name for any pudding.

Traditionally, kheer is made with whole milk and cream, but for a low-fat version, use low-fat milk.

Servings: 6-8
Cooking Time: 60-70 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup basmati rice
• 8 cups whole milk or low-fat (2%) milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 cardamom pods
• 2 tbsp slivered almonds
• 2 tbsp golden raisins
• 2 tbsp chopped cashews (optional)

Preparation

1. In a blender, pulse the rice a couple of times, until the rice is broken into smaller grain, and remove. Wash in a little water and drain.
2. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the milk on medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and getting burnt.
3. Add the washed rice, and bring the milk to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat and cook on low heat for about 1 hour until the kheer thickens, stirring frequently.
5. When the pudding has reduced to almost half the original quantity, add the sugar and cook for 2 minutes until it’s dissolved and remove from heat. Kheer thickens some more when it cools.
6. Remove the cardamom seeds from the pods and crush into a powder using a mortar and pestle. Add the cardamom powder, almonds, cashews, and raisins to the kheer and stir.
7. Serve the kheer warm or chilled.

Category: Sweets and Desserts