Indian Rice Pudding/Kheer

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoon ghee or butter
• ¼ cup pre-soaked and drained Basmati rice
• 4 cups warm milk *
• 5 Tablespoons sugar
• Pinch of salt *
• 2-3 cardamom pods crushed or ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
• Generous pinch of saffron strands
• ¼ cup chopped / sliced assorted nuts
• 2 teaspoon rose water optional

1. . Soak saffron in 1 tablespoon of warm milk and set aside.
2. . Heat up a heavy bottom non –stick pan. Add in ghee.
3. . Add the drained rice to the pot and stir for 1 minute on medium heat
4. . Slowly add in the warm milk.
5. . Let it come to a boil. Stir occasionally.
6. . Once it starts to boil, lower the heat and keep stirring often to avoid rice or milk sticking to the bottom and the sides.
7. . The milk will start thickening and reducing within 20 minutes.
8. . After 20 minutes, check the rice, by now it should be tender enough.
9. . Add in the sugar, salt, cardamom, and saffron milk.
10. . Cook for another 10 minutes. The milk should have reduced considerably.
11. . Mash some rice with the back of the spoon if desired.
12. . Remember during the cooling process the rice will continue to absorb the liquid and it become considerably thicker.
13. . Stir in the chopped nuts.
14. . Stir in the chopped nuts and remove from heat.
15. . Serve warm or chilled, add rose water just before serving.
    
    Recipe Notes:
16. . Do not add sugar before the rice is tender because the rice will take forever to cook.
17. . Microwave the milk for 3 minutes before adding to the rice, this quickens the process. However you can skip the microwaving and directly add milk to the pan which will add an 15 additional minutes to the total time.
18. . The pinch of salt is optional, it does bring out the flavors really well.
19. . Slivered almonds and pistachios are good options for nuts, however you can add nuts of your choice and raisins too.
20. . If kheer/ rice pudding thickens a lot after cooling, just stir in few tablespoons of cold milk.

This recipe was developed for the Cultured Cup by Shamilla Yeary

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