Kheer – Indian Rice Pudding
Kheer, a dessert made from staple ingredients such as milk, rice and sugar. Once flavoured, this creamy and rich dessert with cardamom or saffron and adorned with slivered nuts and edible silver foil, this Indian dessert is fit enough for a royal menu. We have a soft corner for kheer, one of the most common and popular homemade dessert made with love and lots of effort and eaten till the heart’s content. Whether there is a small prayer in the house or celebrating festivals such as Diwali, Holi, Raksha Bandhan or Navratri or just having small get together with the family there will be plenty of bowls of Kheer with Poori vanishing in the thin air. Kheer is such a delightful soothing and soft dessert that anyone can enjoy no matter if a baby or 80 years old. More Kheer Recipes – Shahi Mango Paneer Kheer | Moriyo Makhana Kheer | Garvanu – Semolina Kheer
Ingredients
Rice – A staple ingredient can be found in any kitchen. For this recipe Basmati is perfect but if you don’t have any other white rice would do the job. Milk – For a rich and creamy taste and texture whole milk is must. If using semi-skimmed or skimmed, you may want to add single or double cream or evaporated milk works so well too. Our readers in USA can make kheer with half and half. Sugar – Normal granulated sugar. Spices and Nuts To enhances flavour the kheer you will need aromatic spices such as cardamom and saffron ( I don’t like to add saffron while kheer is cooking, but like to garnish with it. ) Almonds, pistachio, or cashew nuts are perfect. Some people fry the nuts but I like to add raw. If making it Nut-free Rice Pudding, skip nuts totally. You may swirl in some Instant Pot Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam, once the kheer is totally cooled down.
Stovetop Kheer Recipe
Kheer is a fairly simple dessert to make but needs a good amount of time, energy and concentration. It is a slow-cooked dish that you don’t want to shift your attention for even a few minutes from it, else you’ll see a nothing but a burnt mess. Traditional Kheer is made over the stove by boiling whole milk in a thick based pan or kadai. Add soaked rice and sugar added and simmered till you get thick and creamy kheer. It can be flavoured with cardamom, actually, cardamom helps in digesting the rich and heavy foods. It is finally garnished with the chopped nuts of your choice.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Kheer
Inspiration behind the recipe (A note from my Mum Jagruti) Since the stovetop pressure cooker, a handy and useful kitchen gadget for every cook in India, arrived in our homes with its recipe books, there was one recipe which caught everyone’s attention, it was Kheer. I clearly remember when my mum bought a Hawkins pressure cooker 6 litre one, she prepared a kheer using this pressure cooker and could not praise it enough, since then the only way she made kheer was always in a pressure cooker. So obviously, I picked up that method too. One may have a question about the taste and texture, but this pressure cooker method kheer tastes as delicious as the traditional one. It is s creamy, rich and irresistible only with minimal efforts, just eliminate sweat and stress, no slaving over the stove and stirring for hours. You’ll need a 5litre pressure cooker to make kheer for 4 people. Try not to use a small pressure cooker as there is a chance that the milk mixture will overflow. Bring milk to a boil in a pressure cooker without closing the lid. Add ghee, sugar and washed rice and stir the mixture till sugar dissolves in the milk. Close the cooker with the lid and bring it up to full pressure, reduced heat to low and cook for 10-12 minutes. Let the pressure cooker cool down naturally. Open the lid and stir the kheer, add cream or evaporated milk and cardamom. Place the cooker once again on a heat and simmer ( without the lid) the kheer for a couple of minutes more or until it reaches a creamy consistency. Serve hot or cold in a serving bowl, garnish it with slivered pistachio, almonds, saffron threads, edible silver or gold foil and edible rose petals. What kind of rice to use for Instant Pot Kheer? While the western world uses short grain rice such as rice pudding rice or arborio, for Kheer Indians use mostly Basmati rice. Although some prefer short grain rice with Indian varieties such as Gobindbhog rice which is short grain, sticky and aromatic. Do I break/grind the rice for Kheer recipe? No, it is not necessary for this recipe. However, in countries like Pakistan broken rice added to the kheer. If you wish, you can use spice grinder or food processor to grind the rice before adding it in the milk. Should you rinse the rice? I always wash the rice to make Kheer or Doodh Pak. If you prefer not to, go ahead and use dry rice to make kheer. There will be no compromising on taste but the extra starch will enhances the creamy texture of the Kheer. Can I make Kheer with condensed milk? For kheer, it works both, but I prefer sugar. somehow with sugar, the original taste retains. Some use both so really whatever is your preference.
Kheer/Rice pudding variations to try
Dairy free vegan kheer – use any plant-based milk and omit ghee. Also, use vegan sugar. No added sugar Kheer – to make it diabetic friendly or low carb dessert use natural sweetener such as Stevia or Splenda instead of regular sugar. Taste remains the same. Vermicelli or Sevai Kheer – replace rice with roasted thin noodles called Sevai or Seviyan Kheer. Mango Kheer – Mango pulp added after Kheer is cooked and cooled down totally. Payasam – Payasam is a south Indian version of kheer or rice pudding. Which is sweetened with jaggery instead of white sugar. However, to prevent to milk curdle add Jaggery once kheer is pressure cooked. Carrot Kheer – Use shredded or finely chopped carrots instead of rice. Sabudana Kheer – Rinse and soak the tapioca pearls (sabudana) for 40 minutes. Follow the recipe same as rice kheer. Reduce the cooking time to 10 minutes. Badam/Almond Kheer – Use shop bought almond flour or make almond paste at home for this recipe. Add in the milk instead of rice. Arroz Con Leche – Make this popular Spanish rice pudding by just using Jasmine rice and add some cinnamon flour for flavours.
Serving Suggestions
Kheer often made during festive occasions or as a prasad (offering to god/goddess) during religious ceremonies. Kheer can be served and enjoyed at any temperature. If serving in winter serve hot, in summer chilled or you may prefer just warm or at room temperature. In our family we serve kheer with deep fried Poori along with Aloo Matar or Aloo Chole (chana bateta nu saak) at breakfast on a special occasion or sometimes on a Sunday. In Gujarati community Kheer also served with round and soft Gujarati rotlis on a religious ceremonies too. Kheer can be served as a dessert or pudding after having spicy Indian meal.
How to make Kheer In the Instant Pot?
Instant pot Kheer is a game changing recipe. Fill the pot with the ingredients, give it a good stir, set a timer and leave it until the Instant pot beeps. It’s a win win situation!
