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How to Make Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding)

This creamy kheer (Indian rice pudding) is the ultimate comfort food, and this technique makes it super easy to make, and the perfect texture!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 4 -6 servings

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 liter of whole milk bring to a boil
  • 120 grams of rice I use basmati
  • 4 green cardamom pods
  • Heavy pinch of salt
  • 200 grams of sweetened condensed milk
  • ~1/3 cup of golden raisins
  • 1/4 cup of slivered almonds
  • 1/4 cup of chopped pistachios
  • Optional: Another 50-200ml milk to loosen see notes
  • Optional: Tiny splash of rose water or orange blossom water (like LITERALLY 2-3 drops anything else is overpowering

Instructions

  • Soak your rice for 15 to 20 minutes beforehand, drain and rinse well a few times (to get the extra starch off).
  • Bring 1 liter of whole milk slowly to a boil, and once it's close, prep your rice and cardamom (next two steps).
  • Put the soaked rice in your mortar bowl and use the pestle to kind of crush or grind the rice into small pieces. You don't have to be obsessive about this and you're not looking to crush it into powder.  Just break it up...this makes a huge difference in the overall texture (see notes if you don't have a mortar and pestle).
  • Crush the green cardamom pods in the mortar, remove the skins, and then grind up the little black seeds with your pestle.
  • As soon as the milk has come to a boil, turn it down to a simmer and add the crushed rice and ground cardamom, and a solid pinch of salt.
  • Cook on slow heat, stirring frequently...it could be 40-45 minutes or up to an hour, but the key is not to rush it or turn it up too high.  Basically, you don't want to scald the milk (blech).  Just be patient and keep stirring it every couple minutes.  
  • Once it's thickened appropriately and the rice is really soft (at least 35 minutes, but likely 45 or longer), add the sweetened condensed milk and stir in.  You can add up to 200ml more of milk at this point to loosen it up a bit (see my notes).  
  • Go ahead and add your golden raisins and the nuts.  If your golden raisins are on the chewy and dry side, you could even add them a bit earlier to make them soft and juicy.
  • Once your textures are perfect and it's the thickness you want, remove from the heat and add a couple drops (LITERALLY JUST THIS MUCH) of rose water or orange blossom water.  I think the rose water is more traditional but I've done both and they're equally delicious.
  • Serve hot and fresh, warm, or room temp (my preference) and top with some more nuts.

Notes

  1. Use whole milk to make this, it really does make a HUGE difference in the creaminess and thickness.
  2. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, I'd assume you could very *quickly* and roughly break up your soaked rice using a food processor.  I'm guessing just a couple pulses would be enough, you don't want to pulverize it.
  3. The timing and end steps can be flexible on this, so go with your gut (depending on how thick you want your kheer).  My first time making it, I did 50 minutes and didn't add the extra 200 ml of milk.  Another time I felt like the rice was an awesome texture around 35 minutes and it was already quite thick (using the wide shallow pan), so I went ahead and added the sweetened condensed milk, a splash of extra milk, and kept cooking for another 5+ minutes. 
  4. You'll find a skin forming on your milk as you cook the pudding...this is totally normal and while it's annoying, just keep stirring it back in.  Occasionally if it's really thick you could skim it off, but it isn't necessary and won't affect the texture of the finished kheer.