Kheer can be called a rice pudding. It is a traditional sweet dish, equally popular and famous in all over the subcontinent. Because of being a sub-continental dish, it has different names in different languages. In Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi it is known as Kheer. It is called Ksheer in Sanskrit, Payasam in Tamil and Payesh in Bengali. In Persian, it is called Sheer Birinj.
In Pakistan, it is made and served on common and special occasions, especially for the celebrations like parties, dinners, marriages and Eid days.
Kheer is made in different ways with a slight difference of ingredients and methods but the main ingredients are Milk, Rice and Sugar as it is a sweet dish.
Ingredients:
Milk 1 Liter
Rice ½ Cup
Sugar 1 Cup or as per taste
Khoya(solid Milk) 1 Cup
Green Cardamom 4
Almonds ½ Cup
Pistachios ½ Cup
Saffron (Optional) 1 Pinch
Method (learn how to Make Kheer)
Rinse rice well and soak them into water for half an hour at least. Take them out of water and spread them to dry and then grind them well. For this purpose, you can use a rolling pin. Make sure it does not become powder.
Soak almonds and pistachios in warm water, peel the thin skin off and chop them finely. Pour milk into a pan and put it to boil. In the meantime, take a little cold water or cold milk to make a paste of ground rice. When milk is boiled, add this paste gradually into it and keep stirring. Lower down the flame and add saffron into it. Keep on stirring periodically. When u start smelling the aroma of cooked rice, add sugar and green cardamom and cook it for 20 more minutes so that the extra water gets dry and it could get a thick consistency. Now remove the pan from the stove and let the mixture get cool. When it is cooled down, add Khoya (solid milk) and mix it well. Take it out in a serving dish and garnish it with finely chopped almonds and pistachios. You can also use silver leaves to garnish and decorate the dish. Rich, tasty sweet dish is ready to eat.
As it is a time taking dish and may not easy to make for a beginner, for the ease of such people, there are many kinds of quick and instant recipe packets that are easily available in the market. After buying these packets, one can make this dish so easily by just putting the ingredients inside the packet in the boiling milk. However, it definitely has no comparison with the original recipe.
