Kheer is an absolute classic Pakistani dessert and even better, it’s one of those desserts you can definitely put together in a pinch. But don’t worry, it definitely delivers on flavor despite using just a few every day ingredients. This sweet Pakistani rice pudding is creamy, aromatic and sure to satisfy your sweet tooth. Now that you know what Kheer is and what it tastes like I think it’s about time we started making it. So, lets get started with the recipe, shall we?
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Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup basmati rice
- 1/4 cup water
- 5 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
- 5 Cardamom Pods (or 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder)
- 1/2 tablespoon crushed Pistachios Unsalted
- 1/2 tablespoon almond slivers
- 3-4 drops Kewra Food Flavor, optional
- crushed pistachio and almond, for garnish
Directions:
Like any good rice pudding, let’s start with the rice. Place the rice in a mixing bowl, cover it with water and swirl it around with your fingers. The water will become cloudy with starch, pour this water out and rinse the rice a few more times until the water is clear. Let the rice soak in the water for 20-30 minutes to give it a leg up on cooking.
Once the rice is done soaking, drain it, and you can start the long awaited cooking process. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot on high heat add in the water and milk and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium and add in the drained, soaked rice. Allow the rice to cook until soft, about 10 minutes, stirring often, then add in the sugar. Allow the sugar to dissolve and continue cooking rice on medium low heat.
While rice continues to soften and milk simmers down and becomes more concentrated you can prepare the cardamom pods. Crush the pods in a mortar and pestle and remove the seeds from peel (discarding the peels). Roughly crush the seeds into a powder. Add this powder along with 1 tablespoon crushed pistachios and almonds into kheer mixture. The Kheer should have been cooking for around 30 minutes by now while stirring periodically, this is to prevent the milk from burning or sticking to the bottom of the pot. Add in a few drops of Kewra Flavoring to give it that signature scent (it’s a very distinct essential oil used in Pakistani cooking).
After adding in the nuts stir to combine thoroughly. At this point you can decide if your kheer needs to cook a bit longer by noting the thickness. The rice should be soft and easy to break apart with your spoon and the milk should have cooked down significantly. The last and crucial step before assessing if you are done cooking down your rice is giving it a quick blend with a Hand Blender. This will help the rice to better incorporate with the milk and thicken the kheer up. Remove the pot from the heat and on low speed give the mixture a quick pulse (2-3 seconds). The rice will break apart very easily. Below you can see the before and after of blending the rice. As you can see the kheer is thick and creamy and keep in mind it will continue to thicken as it cools.
When you are done cooking turn off the heat and let it cool slightly. You can serve warm or cooled – it taste good at any temperature really! However you decide to serve, I would recommend garnishing with additional crushed almonds and pistachios just for an extra crunch. And you’re done! You just made Kheer – wasn’t it easy? You just have to be able to watch rice cook. I always knew you could do it 😁
Kheer (Pakistani Rice Pudding)
Equipment
- Hand Blender
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup basmati rice
- ¼ cup water
- 5 cups whole milk
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
- 5 Cardamom Pods (or 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder)
- ½ tablespoon crushed Pistachios Unsalted
- ½ tablespoon almond slivers
- 3-4 drops Kewra Food Flavor, optional
- crushed pistachio and almond, for garnish
Instructions
- Add dried basmati rice to mixing bowl and cover with water and swirl – wash and drain 3 times to remove excess starch. Cover with water and let the rice soak for 30 minutes.
- Drain the rice after soaking.
- In a large, heavy-bottomed pot add in water and milk. Bring this to a boil on high heat, stirring occasionally. Add in drained rice and cook on medium heat. Allow rice to cook and soften for 10 minutes and then add in the sugar. Stir to combine. Continue cooking and stirring often (to prevent burning and sticking) on medium-low to medium heat for 10 minutes.
- While rice continues to cook, you can crush the cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle. Add in pods and give them a quick crush to open up the pods. Remove the seeds and discard of peels. Crush the seeds into rough powder in mortar and pestle.
- Add the cardamom powder along with 1 tablespoon of crushed pistachio and almonds into kheer. Also add in a few drops of Kewra flavor (this is optional). At this point the kheer should have been cooking for around 25-30 minutes.
- Take the pot of kheer off the heat and, using a hand blender, blend for a just a few seconds on low until rice breaks apart a little (not fine or completely broken down, at all) and mixes with milk to slightly thicken
- The texture of the kheer should be slightly runny and creamy. It will continue to thicken as it cools down.
- You can serve the Kheer while it's still warm or cool it down in the refrigerator. Whatever way you decide to serve be sure to garnish with additional almonds and pistachios
- Enjoy!
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