Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding)
I have always loved food. All my life I have been especially enamored by the various Asian and Mediterranean cuisines, albeit the Americanized versions I’m sure. Indian food, though, was one I had to learn to love. Yet, love it, I do. Spicy, flavorful Indian food-like this or this-has become one of my very favorite, crave-able meals. I comb the Internet looking for home cooks who have mastered the Indian recipes I love and through that search I have found so many wonderful food blogs. Blue Jean Gourmet is one of them-although there are so many delicious recipes there one is hardly confined to the Indian ones. Not only does Nishta post wonderful recipes, she is also another Houstonian and was even recently named one of Houston’s “Blog Stars” by the Houston Press.
I was so excited when she posted this recipe for kheer, I knew I’d be making it soon. This cooling and subtly sweet rice pudding has long been my favorite way to round out the spicy flavors of Indian food, and now I can make it at home as well!
Kheer
makes 3 cups, prep 5 min, cook 30 min, adapted from Blue Jean Gourmet- 4 cups milk, 2% or whole
- 1/2 cup basmati rice
- 1 tbsp ground cardamom (or 2 cardamom pods)
- 1/4-1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
- chopped roasted, salted pistachios
- Rinse rice. Meanwhile, heat milk over medium low.
- Drain rice and add to the milk. Cook on medium low about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the milk from browning on the bottom.
- After 30 min check the thickness of your kheer. I cooked it about 20 more minutes from that point for a thicker, more pudding like kheer than you would get at a restaurant.
- When your rice is done and it is as thick as you’d like, remove from the heat and stir in cardamom and sweetened condensed milk.
- Chill or serve warm topped with chopped pistachios.
Thanks for all of your comments on my last post. I guess there really are people out there who aren’t completely in love with spaghetti. Crazy.
Posted in Budget, Desserts, Easy, Pantry Challenge
March 31st, 2010 at 12:47 pm
That looks really good Katie! I am loving Indian food – I’ve made chicken tikka masala three times in three weeks!
Although when I make it, my husband says “what smells like ass?!” I think it smells like spicy heaven!
March 31st, 2010 at 11:59 pm
hahaha… dont worry mam your husband will must be eat your dish… i love that you made for your husband any way the kheer is nice and thanks for sharing this with us…
April 1st, 2010 at 8:42 am
looks lovely and delish! i had to learn to love indian food as well. and now….i LOVE it!
April 1st, 2010 at 11:58 am
I love Indian food too, but am still very much a novice in cooking it at home (other than the occasional curry). This looks like a fantastic recipe – thanks! I’ll try this next time.
April 1st, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Katie, you should definitely check out my friend and colleague Monica Bhide’s blog, too: http://www.monicabhide.com/ She wrote a cookbook called Modern Spice, which is really accessible to home cooks looking for simpler Indian meals. Plus, bonus! She just wrote an article on cardamom in this month’s Saveur.
I miss Nishta. I haven’t seen her on my blog in a while, but I’m happy for her success and excited to check back in on her work.
April 12th, 2010 at 12:21 am
This kheer looks yummy! I will have to make this soon. Thanks for sharing such a lovely photo and recipe!
April 16th, 2010 at 6:17 am
lovely. happy to have stumbled upon your blog via tastespotting.
May 19th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
This is such a simple and wonderful recipe. I remember eating kheer on religious occasions back home in India. Sometimes, it was sevred with Poori’s – fried indian bread. Another great garnish is saffron. Adds a nice color and fragrance to the kheer. I strongly associate the fragrance of rose petals to this dish. My mother drizzled some in when the kheer was cooked.
I stumbled across your blog via tastespotting and yours has let me to at least 3 more interesting food blogs :)I have tons of food for thought now! (pun intended)
October 6th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
I made it for a pot luck for my book club discussion; we’d read Eat, Pray, Love and decided to bring Indian and Italian food. It was a huge hit!! I especially loved it; I’m English so grew up eating Rice Pudding hot w/jam. The cardomom adds such a wonderful flavour, it was quick and delicious!
January 26th, 2014 at 11:25 am
My boyfriend and I loved this recipe; however, we did have to cut back on the cardamom to 1 TSP because he isn’t a huge fan of the taste. I chopped up some clementines and mixed them in at the end with a little zest. Fantastic!