Kheer

Origin: Kheer’s origins trace back over 2,000 years to ancient India, where it began as a sacred offering known as payasa or payasam in Sanskrit.

Early versions were made with rice or millets simmered in milk, sweetened with jaggery, and flavored with cardamom or ghee — ingredients symbolizing prosperity and purity.

Soft, sacred, and quietly powerful, kheer is the taste of time well spent and love well given.

Ingredients

“Kheer doesn’t rush. It teaches. It fills the bowl and the soul.”

¼ cup basmati rice

2 cups water

1 tablespoon ghee

4 pods green cardamom, slightly crushed

1 stick cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder

3 cups half and half or 3 cans carnation milk

5 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

A pinch of saffron, infused in 2 tablespoons of boiling water – optional

Cashews for garnishing – optional

How The Alchemy Happens

Rinse the rice until the water becomes clear.

Then soak the rice in a large quantity of cold water for 30 minutes.

Drain the rice using a strainer and set aside.

Heat a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the ghee, then add rice, cinnamon stick and cardamom.

Stir for 2 minutes.

Add the water and cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat. Stir constantly.

Add milk, saffron, nutmeg and cinnamon powder.

Add the saffron pistils and their infusion, and mix well.

Set the heat to medium-high, then, as soon as it starts to boil again, lower the heat and leave the kheer to cook over a low heat for about 25 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so.

The milk will reduce considerably after 25 minutes and the kheer will be thick. For an even thicker kheer, cook an additional 10 to 15 minutes at this stage. The kheer will continue to thicken as it cools.