Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

| Indian Cuisine | Dessert

Kheer or payasam is a thick rice pudding.

Ingredients

• 1 L (4 cups) milk
• 250 mL (1 cup) long grain white rice
• 125 mL (½ cup) white sugar
• 65 mL (¼ cup) sultanas (raisins)
• 6 cardamom pods
• 65 mL (¼ cup) slivered blanched almonds
• 15 mL (1 T) rosewater

Procedure

1. Bring the milk to a boil.
2. Add rice and cook slowly until thick (about 20 minutes).
3. Stir in the sugar, sultanas (raisins), and the ground seeds from the cardamom pods (cook a further 5 minutes).
4. Stir in the almonds and rosewater, and cover until ready to serve.

Notes, tips, and variations

• Stir the milk while bringing it to the boil.
• You may also want to leave the kheer boiling for much longer (several hours), until it has been significantly reduced; this provides a stronger flavour and a light-pink colour.
• You can use rice flour or vermicelli instead of plain rice.
• For kheer that is not too thick when cold, use 170 mL (⅔ cup) of rice instead.
• If to be eaten cold, it's nicer to use double the quantities of sugar, sultanas, and almonds.

Warnings

• The main difficulty in this dish is preventing the kheer from sticking to the bottom of the pan, that requires care.