Chawal Kheer Recipe

Ingredients: Serves 6-8

3/4 cup small grain rice (any long grain basmati rice does NOT work well here. Dubhraj, punni or sona masoori work best)

5 cups whole fat milk

1 teaspoon ghee

1 bay leaf

2 cloves

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon saffron

1/4 cup toasted nuts, like almond, pistachio, cashews etc (optional)

1 teaspoon cardamom powder (optional)

Method:

Soak rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain water. Set rice aside.

In a heavy bottom, wide mouthed pot or pan, heat ghee. Add bay leaves and cloves. As they sputter, add rice. Fry rice in ghee until all the excess water evaporates.

Add, milk. Scrape the bottom to make sure there’s no rice sticking to the bottom. Bring the milk to a nice rolling boil. Turn down the heat to low.

Stir in saffron. Let the kheer simmer until the rice is cooked through, approx. 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Make sure nothing sticks to the bottom and sides.

Stir in sugar. Mix well, scraping the sides and bottom. Continue simmering, storring and scraping until the milk is reduced to half. Stir in toasted nuts.

Turn off the heat. Allow the kheer to cool down before transferring it to refrigerator. Chill for a few hours, approx. 3-5hrs.

Serve chilled with a little cardamom powder sprinkled on top. Enjoy!