In a nutshell, Kheer is a Pakistani/Indian rice pudding. But let’s please ease out of this nutshell because it’s suffocating and unjust. Kheer is not just any rice pudding in which you quickly cook rice in sweet milk and sweep the sweat from your forehead and pitch your spatula in the air in hurrah. No. That’s not kheer. Neither is the liquidy stuff you get at Pakistani/Indian restaurants in the states. I’ll take a glass of sweet lassi instead thanks.
Kheer is slow cooked for a couple of hours in sweetened milk. It’s infused with cardamom. It’s stirred with care. You bet it’s a labor of love when you have to scrub the brown bits stuck to the bottom of your stainless steel pot later because the milk will catch at the bottom. I think I scrubbed 20 minutes of my life away just now. But man oh man, when you tear through the skin that coagulates on the surface of the Kheer and slip that spoon in your mouth, you would want to clean that pan every day. Ok, maybe not. Once a week?
Kheer is the one dessert that I ABSOLUTELY cannot resist especially when its encased between two tiny terracotta bowls glued together with a rubber band with a small wooden popsicle stick clasped to it. When I get those bowls from Burns Road in Karachi, you better believe that I take my Kheer very seriously! To replicate that earthen feel, I bought similar looking terracotta bowls from Home Depot. Instantly the Kheer that just tasted excellent now has substance– a story to tell, a culture to give you a glimpse of. And might I add how ridiculously impressive it looks. Please Google images of Kheer and tell me that this doesn’t splatter all over them. Exactly:)
Kheer (Pakistani Rice Pudding)
A Pakistani rice pudding, Kheer is infused with cardamom and slow cooked for a couple of hours. End result is nothing short of magical!
Servings: 5
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup uncooked rice
- 7 tbsp sugar
- 4-5 cardamom pods
- Crushed nuts (pistachio, cashews, blanched almonds) to garnish
Instructions
- First, we are going to OVER cook the rice in boiling water for 10-12 minutes, until they get really soft and mushy.
- Next, strain the rice and with the back of a fork, mash it well until it resembles oatmeal.
- Next, heat up milk in a stainless steel deep saucepan and let it come to a gentle simmer.
- Open the cardamom pods and add it to the milk. (Once Kheer is done, you can simply take out the husk since we're only using 5 pods.)
- Next add the rice and sugar. The rice will be clumpy but as it cooks, it will break down.
- Now on very low heat, cook the Kheer for 3 hours. Make sure you stir every once in a while. The milk will inevitably catch at the bottom so make sure you use a stainless steel pot because if you use a non stick saucepan, the brown bits will peel off as you stir and distribute throughout the Kheer. That would be gross!
- After 3 hours of slow cooking, the Kheer will have thickened. It should fall in little clumps from the spatula (see the video for clarity).
- Immediately pour in terracotta bowls and garnish with crushed nuts. The skin that forms on the surface is the BEST part!
- Let Kheer cool in serving dish for 15-20 minutes before serving.
- You can keep this in the fridge covered for up to 3 days but who's even saving for later.
Ohhh ! I really loved this recipe and made my day..thanks for the sharing,
I am going to use 2% milk. I have a can of condensed milk. Can I add that too?
I would use condensed milk only after the milk has achieved some consistency.
love your idea of using the terra cotta bowls! would you be able to share a link to the ones you bought from home depot?
Here it is: https://www.instagram.com/reel/COOMma-hTJa/
Thanks so much for this recipe! I made kheer a long time ago and needed something to refresh my memory. I have a extra gallon of milk I’m trying to do something with soon! I remember adding “chuwaare” to my kheer because my mom told me to 😅 you think it makes a big difference in taste?
I’ve never heard of chuware in kheer.Are you share that wasn’t sheer khurma that uses dates. It probably will change the taste a bit.
I SOOO want to make this, but do not have cardamon pods – just powder. Would there be any way to substitute? Like, maybe a tiny pinch of powder?
You can add 1 tsp of cardamom powder 🙂
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Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
Aw thank you for the lovely message Medison! You can also subscribe directly to my YouTube channel.
Hello, is a Dutch oven an appropriate pot for making Kheer?
Hi Sana, I see why not. The reason I use a stainless steel pot is that the burnt milk doesn’t scrape off easy, something I have experienced in non-stick.
Yaar I’m still confused why do I have to clean washroom :/ jk Khair will be trying this insha Allah soon
hahah because this is gonna take a long time
This looks amazing! My boyfriend has new neighbors from Pakistan, and although the husband speaks English well, the wife only understands a few words, so I taught her how to use Google Translate, and she and I have been chatting back and forth with that – her in Urdu and me in English. I know she’s lonely, and I’d like to cook her something – food is my love language – but I’m worried it might be presumptuous of me to try to offer her a traditional Pakistani dish? I guess my question is, would it be appropriate for me, an American, to try to impress my new non-English speaking friend with an interpretation of one of her country’s dishes? Because the last thing I want to do is offend her. HALP!
Hi Patty! That is a lovely gesture. Food is a universal language and can help bring two people from different backgrounds faster than anything else… maybe even music 🙂
I have always had conversations with my Mexican friends about how much I wish to learn authentic Mexican food from them or their mamas so I would be touched if someone did that for me. Your heart is clearly in the right place and I’m sure your neighbour would be touched.
Let me know how it turns out. Maybe let her know where you got the recipe too ????
After trying every recipe ever on how to make the perfect kheer, yours hits out of the park! I was sceptic, investing 3 hours into a recipe but I am so glad I did. It looks amazing, tastes oh so good.
Thank you so much!
It was the best home-made Burns Road kheer!
Ahhh that really made my day Sameen! I’m so so happy to hear that you found the perfect recipe to satisfy your Burns Road kheer quest! Thank you for sharing your feedback. It really helps other people discover it too 😀
Do you use basmati rice or pudding rice?
Hi Aamir, for this recipe you can use any type of normal rice (Jasmine/Basmatic, etc.) I think other types of rice like Arborio (is it the same as pudding rice?) and Orzo are not recommended if you want the traditional taste of Kheer. I haven’t cooked with those so I won’t be able to share any customizations.
Hi: I was just wondering if it matters which type of rice you use for this recipe.
P.S. … I love your recipes!!
Lynn
Hi Lynn! thank you for loving my recipes. The type of rice you use is not important at all because you will be mushing the rice to a gloopy mess:)
We had a Pakistani guest over, so I decided to make him something that tasted like home. He loved it! Also, I used double the rice and same amount of milk and it worked just fine. And soaking the bottom of the pan with warm water and baking soda makes the brown bits come right off!
Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I agree on the measurement. You can definitely play around with it.
My son isn’t very interested in cooking, he’s usually too busy playing to help. I’d love to change that though!
i bought this expensive non-stick tefal grill pan BUT i can’t seem to get the perfect grill marks as i used to with my cheaper cast iron pan! the non-stick is so much easier to clean although i might as well be grilling the chicken in a skillet! ? is there anything i can do to make this one work as good?
I made the kheer as you said but it smells burnt???! I used a stainless steel pot so none of the brown bits scraped off but it just smells burnt?
Hey it should not smell burnt unless you actually burnt the milk. The flame needs to be really really low for the kheer to cook.
Do you recommend discarding the cardamom seeds before adding only the outer husk of the pod? I am unfamiliar with the proper way to cook with cardamom. (I have great faith in this recipe since it obviously doesn’t cut corners—if three hours are needed, then three hours are given!) Thank you.
Hey I wouldn’t do that. The seed is what you actually need. Just crack open the husk and let it simmer in the milk. Since we’re only adding 4-5 cardamom pods, you can just pick them out of the kheer once done. Hope this helps!
I cooked kheer n it was delicious my husband also liked it he just wanted to know how i made it so thick. Thanks for your recepie
yay! So happy it came out delicious!
My family loves this recipe for keer. I used a potato masher to mush the rice, it is faster and easy. Also, I found that if I stirred it more frequently, like making pudding from scratch, it didn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. The closer to the finish time, the more frequently it needs stirring. Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi, can I make this with brown sugar and 2% milk?
Hi Aisha! While I think milk should be okay, (but why not whole?)I’m not so sure about brown sugar because I haven’t cooked brown sugar for that long so I don’t know how it will react. Kheer is one of those recipes that take really long to finish, so I wouldn’t advise you to play on this recipe. If you do try your way, post results please 🙂
Hey Izzah! I am so excited to have discovered your blog (in my search for a winning chawal ki kheer recipe). Always so much fun to discover another Pakistani food blogger and I am definitely trying this kheer at some point!
Hi Sarah! I’m so happy you were in search of chawal ki kheer and found my blog. I had zero luck finding a recipe online so when I randomly decided to try this idea and tasted what to me is the kheer I grew up eating as a child, I had to share it! Low and slow is the key. The milk solids will stick to the bottom of your pan (stainless steel pot, highly recommended), but don’t scrape the pan. Hope you have success making this. I would love to hear about it!
Also, I need to redo my blog. Not the most tech savvy lol
Oh shush, it’s a great blog! I have made kheer before but where you pound uncooked rice and add it to the milk. This approach seems to make sense because it eliminates the raw rice element!
Oh you’re too kind. I need to revamp my blog asap and taking inspiration from yours rights now!
Also, would love to hear your results on my kheer recipe:)
If I am cooking for 50 people how would I change the recipe? Also, if I do not put it in individual pots does it make a difference?
Hi Ameerah, You wouldn’t need to change the recipe, just increase the quantity but make sure to cook on a very low heat. You can serve that in one big bowl as opposed to individual ones. Hope it turns out delicious!!
Hi can this kheer be made in a crockpot?
Hi Afshan, I only make this in a stainless steel pot so unfortunately I cannot guide you. It may not have the same flavor in a crock pot.
Hi I just wanted to let you know i love kheer and I never heard of cooking kheer for as long as 3 Hours but watching the video it looked really tasty so I definitely will try it. I just have one question, i want to cook for a larger serving size (as in for about 10-15 people) for that do you think it will still take 3 Hours or longer because the proportion of every ingredient is more.
I think what you can do is make sure your pan is big enough so it has more room to simmer.
[…] holidays to add just the right amount of sweetness to the Eid table. Similar to desserts like Kheer and Kulfi, Sheer Khurma is also made with milk that is thickened slowly with the help of roasted […]
Used this recipe to make Kheer for the first time for my family. There was just one big dilemma.. It was way too delicious to share. I ended up eating 3/4 of the dish and had loads of complaints that I didn’t make enough. Everyone loved it! Next time I’ll double the recipe. Thanks for sharing your recipe!!
Thank you for your amazing feedback Mk! I am in the process of putting up a Sheer Khurma recipe. I hope you give that a try:)
This looks amaze balls. Can’t wait to try this!
I’m so glad I stumbled across this recipe! My mom always takes hours to make kheer and all the recipes I’ve found online call for a total of 25-30 minutes cook time. We skip the garnishing at my house though – we love kheer in all its simplicity and goodness! And the skin that forms on top? Ugh to die for!
Thanks for sharing your recipe!!
Thanks so much for checking this out and leaving a comment. I can’t think of making kheer any other way!
Hello,I will be making kheer using ur procedure ..But instead of sugar I will be pouring condensed milk ,so much should it be put in tbsp?
Hi Sakina, kheer made with condensed milk will have an entirely different procedure because we are not cooking it down. I have not tried making it with condensed milk so I can’t advise on how to go about it. But there are plenty of recipes out there with that variation:) Here’s a basic one I found on the internet http://foodviva.com/dessert-recipes/rice-kheer-with-condensed-milk-recipe/
Hope this helps:)
Hi! I stumbled upon your page yesterday and am already hooked. Excited to check out more videos and recipes.
I have a couple of questions that I’m not entirely clear on.
1- for overcooking the rice, do you bring the water to a boil first and then add the rice? Or do add the rice to water and allow it to boil together? I’ve had recipes for other things show as both ways.
2- when heating up Milk, is that done on medium heat?
Thank you Muzam for checking my blog! So it really doesn’t matter if you add rice to boiling water or together cause you’re going to overcook it regardless. As far as the flame, yes low and slow is the way to go because milk catches very easily. Also, make sure to use stainless steel pot so the scalded bits get stuck to the pan and don’t mix into the milk! Hope this helps!!
Can you do the first step a day before and cover the rice once cooled and place it in the fridge?
I actually haven’t tried cooking the rice in advance but I don’t see a reason why it won’t work. Just microwave the cooked rice for 20-30 seconds to break up the clump.
heyy i love your youtube channel, the food always looks amazing. my question is what type of rice would i need to use to make this? or it does not matter?
Thank you so much for your sweet words, Aliyah. I cook with basmati rice but i’m sure jasmine or any white rice will work just as well. Just make sure you really overcook the rice so it resembles a mush:)