Kheer

INGREDIENTS

  • 5.5 ounces of rice (by weight)

  • 9 cups whole milk + milk for soaking rice

  • 1 – 1¼ cups sugar (depends on your taste)

  • 4 elaichi (green cardamom pods)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Grind rice in a spice blender. 10-12 pulses is usually sufficient for most of it to be ground with some small pieces left. You don’t want it to become completely ground.

  2. Soak rice with a little bit of milk and set aside.

  3. Boil milk with 4 elaichi.

  4. Once hot (do not let it get to a rolling boil), add soaked rice to the pot.

  5. Reduce milk with stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn. This can take ~1 hour.

  6. Add sugar once the rice is cooked through.

  7. Continue to cook with stirring until kheer has reached the desired consistency. It will thicken once room temperature and ever more so when cool so please keep this in mind!

NOTES

  • This is a "minimalist" kheer, so you won't find any nuts or raisins or other random surprises that other people enjoy. I even like to fish out the few cardamom pods that are in there for fear that it will mess up the perfect bite (see biryani memes if you don’t know what I’m talking about).

  • Yes, the proportions are strange because I made my mom measure everything as she made it.