The ever reliable kheer!!!

A beautiful year has just passed by. It has been a great year – lot of ups and downs – each giving us a chance to mature, get a grip on our emotions – all of it being a catalyst for making us better individuals.

Another beautiful year is here with lots of hopes, expectations, cheer. And here I am with the ever reliable kheer – welcome 2015 J

You must be wondering why I am speaking about kheer all of a sudden. Well, for one thing, kheer does stand for all those sweet occasions and festivities, and secondly, it’s quick to prepare. But that’s not the actual reason I am talking about kheer really.

After our vacations, my in-laws came over to stay with us. And today happens to be my mother-in-law’s birthday. A great cook herself, she tries out a lot of recipes she finds in the cookery shows. Running out of options for a quick sweet dish having almost missed her birthday until today morning, I thought of a rice kheer. The best thing is that all the ingredients one would need for a rice kheer will be available at home.

Called paal paayasam/kheer/ rice pudding, this is a very popular dish all over India. It is offered in many temples as prasaadam. Its heavenly taste is supposed to satiate the palate of not just mortals :-)

Recipe

Ingredients

Rice (raw rice – cooks faster if it is broken rice. For the health conscious, you can also go for the red rice) – 1 cup
Milk – 1 litre
Cardamom – 3 to 4 nos.
Sugar – 5 tea spoons
Milkmaid – ½ a cup
Ghee – 3 tea spoons
Water – 3 cups
Cashewnut – 10 to 12 nos.
Dry grapes (Sultanas) – 7 to 8 nos.

Preparation – entire preparation takes about 30 to 40 min based on the cooking mode.

• Mix the washed rice and milk in a thick bottomed pan or a pressure cooker and cook till the rice is very soft.
• Tip: If you prefer using less milk, you can also boil water and cook the rice separately and add milk once the rice is cooked; letting it cook with milk for another ten min. 
• Add cardamom at this stage. (Those who like a strong flavor of cardamom can go for its crushed/powdered version). 
• Stir well and ensure the milk doesn’t split. Ensure the heat is in low flame.
• Add milkmaid and sugar. 
• Tip: Always add sugar/sugar based contents once the rice is cooked properly.
• While the rice soaks in all the milk and sweet contents, heat a separate kadai, pour 2 teaspoons of ghee, and fry the cashewnuts. When they start to turn golden brown, add the sultanas. Once fried, take them off from the stove and add it to the kheer. 
• Add the remaining ghee to the kheer and switch off the stove. 

Serve hot. Lot of people like it chilled. So keep it in the refrigerator once the kheer has cooled off.

Garnishing note: A redolent dessert with no complexities to it, kheer is an ever reliable sweet dish for any occasion – needless to say, it will win the heart of your loved ones. Happy birthday, Amma :-)