Kheer or Rice Kheer is a classic Indian Rice pudding made with cooking rice in, ghee, milk, nuts, cardamom, and rose. My family and I love Kheer and make it very often. This is a quintessential Indian rice pudding every Indian grows up eating.
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What is Kheer?
Kheer is a creamy Indian milk-based dessert. It is made in every Indian household, and we all grew up eating different versions of it. Rice kheer is a creamy Indian rice pudding. In hindi it is popularly known as Chawal ki Kheer. In Tamil Nadu, this rice pudding is famously known as Paal Payasam or Rice Payasam.
The rice is roasted in ghee, until beautifully aromatic. Then it is slow-cooked in milk until the milk thickens. Then it is sweetened with sugar or jaggery and perfumed with cardamom and rose. Nuts are added to the rice pudding, which gives a beautiful crunch into a deliciously creamy kheer.
When was Kheer First Made?
Kheer is believed to have first originated from Jagannath Temple in Orissa, almost 2000 years ago. As per my understanding, I believe kheer was served in the temples, and offered to gods, across the Hindu religion.
How to Make Delicious Kheer at Home?
I believe making Kheer is a beautiful and very therapeutic process. I like my kheer best when it is slow-cooked because it brings out beautifully creamy rice kheer. We make different versions of Kheer, across India. My mom used to make kheer to celebrate every big or small win.
I love homemade kheer. You can adjust the consistency, and sweeten it as per your liking. There are a few different varieties of kheer you can make at home, but rice kheer is the most popular one. But, my favorite is Seviyaan Kheer. If you haven't tried it yet, I have the recipe for Seviyan kheer here.
Every kheer is made with roasting rice in ghee. When the rice is aromatic, I add warm milk to the rice. I like to stir it often because I don't want the milk to stick to the bottom of the pan. Then, I like to add nuts and raisins (sultanas), along with freshly ground cardamom and a little bit of rose water. You can sweeten this Indian Rice Pudding with sugar or jaggery.
Is Kheer Healthy?
I like to practice healthy portion sizes, and positively cook and eat different food groups. Kheer is popularly made with rice, milk, and sugar. The starch in the rice has amino acids that help healthy gut function, and provide cooling effects to the body. I would like to think, that if you have a sweet tooth, you must try making kheer with makhana or brown rice, with lots of nuts, and sweeten it with jaggery. Because I don't personally prefer eating white sugar as often.
Can You Make Rice Kheer Vegan?
I love making vegan rice kheer with almond milk and jaggery. In my recipe, you start with roasting rice in ghee, but you can replace it with coconut oil or vegan butter.
Make Rice Kheer with Cooked Rice
If you have leftover rice, and craving kheer, I got you. It is very easy to make rice kheer with cooked rice. For every 2 cups of cooked rice, you will need 4 cups of Milk and ¼ cup of sugar.
In a pot add 1 Teaspoon of ghee, then add cooked rice and milk to it. Let it start to simmer, stirring often. You will notice the milk starts to thicken. Then add sugar, nuts cardamom powder, and rose water. Your instant kheer is ready!
Ingredients to Make Chawal ki Kheer (Rice Kheer)
- Ghee - All Indian desserts are incomplete without ghee, so ghee is the MVP of the recipe that adds nutty flavors to the rice. If you wish to make it vegan, substitute ghee with coconut oil or vegan butter.
- Rice - I like to use an aromatic variety of rice which is also naturally gluttonous. The starches make the kheer extra creamy. Jasmine rice and Basmati rice varieties are my favorites to use to make rice kheer.
- Milk - Plain full-fat milk is used for this recipe. If you wish to make it vegan, kheer tastes best with almond milk or coconut milk.
- Sugar - I have used castor sugar in this recipe.
- Nuts - I like to add nuts because they give a beautiful crunchy texture which compliments perfectly with a creamy kheer.
- Cardamom - Indian desserts without cardamom, no way. So we use freshly ground cardamom to beautifully perfume the kheer!
- Rose Water - You can skip it, but I like the beautiful flavor rose water adds to the recipe!
- Garnishes - I love to garnish kheer with nuts, dried rose petals, and saffron strands.
FAQ's To Make Kheer
I like basmati rice, or jasmine rice prefer to make kheer because they are naturally aromatic and gluttonous.
There is no hard and fast rule. But my mom always paired kheer with puris and simple potato fry made with peanuts.
The simple answer is yes. You can freeze the Kheer in small freezer-safe containers. Whenever you want to eat the kheer, take it out about 2 hours before, and your kheer is ready to enjoy.
I like chilled kheer in the summers, while warm kheer in the colder months. You can serve it however you prefer cold or warm, based on your preferences.
Kheer needs to be cooked in full-fat milk. You can add milk powder, to thicken the kheer if you are using 1% or 2% milk.
More Recipes From The Blog
Rice Kheer | Kheer Rice
These nutrional values are automatically generated. Use them for estimation only.
Equipment
- 1 Heavy Bottom Pot
Ingredients
- ¼ Cup Rice Use ⅓ Cup Rice for Creamier Kheer
- 1 Teaspoon Ghee
- 4 Cups Milk Full- Fat Milk
- 4-5 Tablespoons Sugar
- 3-4 Green Cardamoms
- 1 Teaspoon Rose Water
- 3 Tablespoon Chopped Nuts I use almonds, cashews, pistachios and raisins
- 1 Tablespoon Nuts Garnishing
- 1 Tablespoon Dried Rose Petals Garnishing
- 5-6 Strands Saffron Garnishing
Instructions
- In a bowl add rice. Wash the rice until water runs clear. Now soak the rice for 20-30 minutes. Keep it aside.
- In a mortar pastel, add 3-4 cardamoms. Lightly crush them. Now take out the green shell of the cardamom. Crush the cardamom seeds into powder. Keep it aside.
- Roughly chop the nuts and keep it aside.
- Now drain the water from the soaked rice once 30 minutes is up, using a colander.
- In a heavy bottom pot, on a medium low flame, add ghee.
- Microwave the milk in a microwave safe bowl and heat it up for 2 minutes.
- Once the ghee melts, add the rice.
- Roast the rice until fragrant and aromatic for 1-2 minutes.
- Now add the warm milk to the rice. Stir it and let the milk start to simmer.
- Stir milk every 2 minutes, to make sure if doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Scrapping the milk from the sides. This will add creaminess to the milk.
- Cook the kheer on low flame for about 20-25 minutes.
- Now add the sugar, cardamom powder, rose water and nuts.
- Simmer it for anouther 5 minutes.
- Your kheer is ready. If you prefer to serve it hot, garnish with dried rose petals, nuts of your choice, and saffron strands.
- If you want to serve your kheer chilled. Let the kheer come to room temperature. Trasfer the kheer in a refriegator safe container. Refrigerate for 2 hours, and serve chilled. Add garnishes before serving
Notes
- Use whole milk to make this kheer, it makes it delicious and creamy.
- I like a very creamy kheer, so I let the kheer cook for about 30 minutes. You can stop cooking the kheer, once it reaches the consistency you prefer.
- You can also add some fresh or dried coconut to the kheer, it tastes beautifully nutty and delicious.
- If you want to substitute jaggery powder with sugar, add it once the kheer is cooked, and you turn off the stove.
- If you don't have rose water, you can crush the saffron strands into powder, and add cold milk to it. It is a Persian hack, that helps bring out the most beautiful color of the saffron to life. Add it to the kheer. It gives a beautiful floral flavor
Sharon
This recipe is delicous. Unfortunately, my rendition turned out too soupy even though I added the larger amount of rice (1/3 c) and followed the directions - including the longer cooking time. Even after being refrigerated overnight it is too thin, not creamy. I am going to try re-heating it in a skillet (rather than a saucepan) to see if I can drive some of the extra water out of it.
Aayushi Patel
Hi Sharon, did you happen to add reduced fat milk? I am using whole milk in the recipe, hence it turns out to be creamier. Sometimes due to milk not having enough fat can cause the kheer to be runnier.