A sweet Indian style rice pudding dessert made with warm spices and nuts, perfect for any occasion
Kheer is a traditional sweet rice pudding dessert served in Indian and Pakistani homes as well as parts of East Africa and Middle East. Growing up, this was a commonly served as a weeknight dinner dessert. Often it is eaten with Poori’s, a round, fried, puffy and thin bread. The poori is broken into pieces and used to scoop up the kheer for a perfect bite! Serve it hot, warm or chilled, its delicious! Upgrade plain rice pudding with a few warm spices and nuts.
Kheer, Firni and Kalamro are very similar but different. Many don’t know the difference because they use similar ingredients. Although all three are sweet and made with rice, the textures and tastes are different. Firni is made with rice flour and has a smooth and creamy texture while Kheer is made with whole rice, broken up and has a grainy texture. Kalamro is made with yogurt instead of milk which gives it a nice lightly tart taste. It is similar to the western worlds rice pudding, however some added warm spices takes it a whole new level! It is a great way to use up leftover plain white rice.
Kheer is an essential sweet dish recipe everyone is expected to know how to make. It can be made in less than 20 mins and a great make ahead option for an everyday dinner or dinner parties. It stays good in the fridge for up to 4 days. It is a quintessential must have for your comfort food go to’s, sure to impress your family and friends.
Makes 4 – 6 individual servings (depending on size of serving dish)
Time: 20 mins to cook
Level of difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
- ½ Can Evaporated Milk
- 3 cups milk (preferably whole milk)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup rice
- ½ cup sugar
- 1/8 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder
- ½ tsp rose essence (optional)
- Pinch of Saffron(optional)
- 1 tbs Custard Powder
- Garnish: chopped nuts (almonds, pistachios are most commonly used) . Due to allergies, nuts can be omitted.
Method:
- In a nonstick pot on medium low heat, add rice, water and milk. Cook for 15 mins till rice is fully cooked. There should still be liquid left in the pot even after rice is cooked.
- Using a Jar blender or hand blender, blend the mixture. Rice grains should be broken up into a grainy mixture. Do not over blend to a complete paste consistency.
- Add sugar, cardamom, rose essence, saffron
- In a small bowl, mix together the custard powder with 3 tablespoons of cold milk until all the lumps are gone. Then add to the rice mixture.
- Cook on medium heat till it comes to a full boil, stirring frequently to ensure it does not stick. Adjust the thickness to your liking by adding more milk if you want it runny or more custard powder for a thicker consistency.
- Turn off heat. Garnish the top with nuts
- Serve warm or chilled
- Enjoy!
Tips:
- Stays great in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. A great make ahead option for larger gatherings.
- For poori there are 2 quick options: buy raw rolled out roti from Indian store (refrigerator isle) and fry it. Or cut up flour tortilla’s and fry them. Roti will be softer and tortillas will be crunchier, both go well with kheer.
- Custard powder can be omitted, but gives it a nice creamy texture. Remember never to add custard powder to hot things directly as it will create lumps. Always create a slurry in a separate bowl with cold liquid first before adding.
- Traditionally it is often garnished with rose petals and pomegranates (daaram).oca