Mr. Riaz Is a kheer lover just even more so then the average Indian and Pakistani. He bothers me to make it all of the time. It is something he never tires of just like I never tire of fish. This is a very much loved desert by many. Kheer is rice pudding and I was looking in some South indian blogs that they even call this paysam. It means rice pudding in English.
The European version I grew up with is cooked rice and the kernal is intact it is not like the Indian and Pakistani version where the rice is also cooked and the kernals are ground up.
First cook the rice. You can use brown and white short and long grain rice for both European and Indian and Pakistani versions. Both brown and white basmati and jasimine rice are used for Indian and Pakistani versions only.
Add 3 to 4 handfuls of rice to a pot and wash until the water runs clear. Add enough water til it just covers the rice and put it on the stove on high heat until the water boils. Turn it down to low heat and wrap foil over the lid or place banana leaf over the pot and place the lid. This will help steam the rice and put on the timer for 20 minutes.
Keep checking every few minutes to see if the rice absorbed the water and the rice is soft. when the time is up and you do not see any more water and the rice is like el dante, turn off the burner and cover the pot and do not disturb for 20 minutes. Brown rice takes longer to cook you need 25 to 30 minutes. Jasmine as same time as white rice. The brown basmati rice took 30 minute on low heat to cook while the white rice is 20 minutes.
While the rice is sitting there covered at its dum stage you can wash peel and grate 2 carrots if you want carrots in your keer. Grind 2 green cardamom seeds and your choice of nuts for this dish, please add one at a time for this desert.
The choices of nuts are pistacios, alomonds, peanuts and cashews. I put 5 almonds in my mortar and pestle and ground them and set them aside.
Dried fruit choices are 1pinch of either shredded frozen or decicated coconut, 5 dates chopped, 1 handful of dark and golden raisons otherwise known as sultanas and dried currents.
I am also going to include as an option for not just rice to make this kheer with I am going to use malt o meal and oatmeal would taste wonderful. Oh I even seen on Tamalapku blog that they have quinoa kheer so ok we will have it too that is done my way. Boil 3 handfuls of quinoa in 3 cups of water and cook until the quinoa is soft and the water is absorbed by it.
Sweetener options are 5 tbs of honey, turbinado sugar or agave nectar. One broken stick of cinnamon ground in mortar and pestle is only used in European rice pudding.
When the time was up I checked the rice and it was very good to go. If using oatmeal just add 3 handfuls of oatmeal to 4 cups of boiling water and stir until thick. If you are using malt o meal, boil 4 cups of water and add two handfuls of malt o meal and stir until it gets thick.
I had in a medium sized cooking pot some left over brown basmati rice I had cooked from the night before in the fridge and added 1 liter or 1 quart of milk to it. There was about like 3 to 4 bowls of cooked rice left before I added the milk.
The kheer and European rice pudding has to be quite milky. I added 5 handfuls of turbinado sugar, 1 drop each of kewra and rose essence. These can be found at any Indian and Pakistani grocery store. I took out my immersion blender and I ground the rice then set the pot containing the milky rice mixture and set it to a boil.
I added the green cardomom I had crushed earlier and kept stirring at this point. I cooked on low heat and kept stirring and stirring. I also added my almonds I had crushed and tasted it to see if it is sweet then stirred some more.
If making european rice pudding skip this step add cinnamon and either raisons or currents and stir until you see a film on top. Add 1 tbs of cornstarch because it will help thicken it. Just keep stirring and make sure it is not lumpy. When it is thick remove from heat and let cool.
Note: the ingredents I have listed are not to be used all at once. If you want kheer with dates add dates, if you want yours with grated carrots add grated carrots etc…. This is just a mere suggestion only.
However the European rice pudding can be eaten warm or cold while the Indian and Pakistani version has to be eaten cold. I do not care what anyone thinks they both tastes great.
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