Traditional Saffron Rice Kheer

Also known as Indian rice pudding is a luxurious dessert for any occasion. Is it me only, or does the word “kheer” brings an excitement and glee to your face too. Today I am sharing my favorite Saffron Rice Kheer – Indian rice pudding recipe which is a one pot dessert. I remember during childhood days, I could hardly do much to help my mum, just stirred the kheer once it was ready and my mum lovingly hugged me and said it was very helpful, good job.
Whatever you want to call it , it hands down the easiest and yummiest Indian dessert I have ever made with that ever lasting touch of love and affection. This Kesar Kheer also makes a perfect gluten-free Indian dessert too.

I am a kheer lover and never actually need a reason to make one . It’s kind of comfort food for me. All you need is one pot , less than an hour and a little bit of stirring to experience this fragrant dessert.

Kheer is a delectable Indian dessert recipe, which is made with various
lip-smacking variations like Jaggery Kheer, Dates kheer, Badam Kheer to name a few. This traditional dessert recipe needs no introduction and you can add your own twist to this recipe as per your palate preferences. Kheer has always been a part of Indian culinary heritage and every Indian Thali has one or the other variant of kheer. Rice Kheer was usually prepared on special occasions and rituals like Diwali, Durga puja, birthdays, wedding buffets among others. What makes this particular recipe more delightful is its perfect balance of rice, milk, cardamom, nuts and sugar. To make this Rice Kheer recipe more interesting add dry roasted almonds, pistachios and walnuts. Apart from these you can also add raisins. If you want to tweak this recipe a bit you can add some dried cranberries, this will add a delicious taste and flavour to this traditional recipe. However, the basic recipe won’t change but adding a twist of flavours will make it more delicious. You can garnish this recipe with roasted and crushed almond, pistachios. You can also add saffron strings to touch finish this dessert.
Rose water and dried rose leaves also embellish this sweet dish.

The beauty of Kheer is that it can be made in various ways and every region in India has a different name for it.
In North India, its popularly known as kheer, in eastern region it goes by the name Payesh while in the South it’s called as Payasam .
Most commonly basmati rice is used to make kheer as it lends a fragrant & delicious aroma. However in different regions of India, different kinds of rice are used which are grown locally. So feel free to use any normal rice if you do not have basmati rice.

Traditional Saffron Rice Kheer

Pooja Yadav

Kheer is a delectable Indian dessert recipe, which is made with various lip-smacking variations like Jaggery Kheer, Dates kheer, Badam Kheer to name a few.

This traditional dessert recipe needs no introduction and you can add your own twist to this recipe as per your palate preferences. Kheer has always been a part of Indian culinary heritage and every Indian Thali has one or the other variant of kheer. Rice Kheer was usually prepared on special occasions and rituals like Diwali, Durga puja, birthdays, wedding buffets among others. What makes this particular recipe more delightful is its perfect balance of rice, milk, cardamom, nuts and sugar. To make this Rice Kheer recipe more interesting add dry roasted almonds, pistachios and walnuts. Apart from these you can also add raisins. If you want to tweak this recipe a bit you can add some dried cranberries, this will add a delicious taste and flavour to this traditional recipe. However, the basic recipe won’t change but adding a twist of flavours will make it more delicious. You can garnish this recipe with roasted and crushed almond, pistachios. You can also add saffron strings to touch finish this dessert.

Rose water and dried rose leaves also embellish this sweet dish.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 50 mins

Total Time 1 hr 5 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 4 cups milk (or 1 liter full fat milk)
• 1/4 cup rice (basmati or 45 gms any rice of your choice)
• 1/3 to 1 cup sugar (1/3 cup for moderate sweetness)
• 2 to 3 green cardamoms (or elaichi powdered)
• 2 tbsp almonds or badam or cashews (blanched & chopped)
• 2 tbsp pistachios blanched & chopped
• Generous pinch of Saffron (kesar)
• 2 tsp rose water (optional)
• 1 tbsp dried rose petals (optional )

Instructions

 

• Wash rice and soak in water for about 30 mins. This helps to cook the rice quickly.
• Soak saffron in 1 tablespoon of warm milk and keep aside.
• Bring 1 cup water to a boil. Then add nuts and soak for about 10 mins. Peel off the skin and pat dry. Chop them as desired.
• While the rice soaks, bring milk to a boil in a large heavy bottom pot or pan.
• Add drained rice and begin to cook on a medium flame until the rice is soft, completely cooked and lightly mushy.
• Do not add sugar before rice is tender because the rice will take forever to cook.
• Then add sugar. Stir and continue to cook until the kheer turns thick. Keep stirring often in between to prevent burning.
• Add cardamom powder, saffron milk and nuts. Stir and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
• Switch off when the rice kheer reaches a desired consistency. It is good to switch off when it is of a runny consistency. It thickens once it cools down.
• Garnish rice kheer with more nuts and serve chilled
• Add rose water and rose petals just before serving(optional)

Notes

Vegan option; replace with plant based milk

Avoid nuts for any allergies, use raisins or dried berries.

(250ml cup used)