The famous Jagannath temple in Puri, Orissa: Home of the kheer. The dish has been cooked here every single day for the last millennium.Having said that I like rice pudding, I was therefore drawn in by the words, “Kheer (Sweet dish made of rice, milk and dry fruits)” in a post on Clyde Fernandes’ blog about his recent trip to The Valley of Flowers.
(Clyde was the affiliate manager for Flora2000.com, so that makes sense.)
So it’s rice pud with dry fruits: that makes it health food, doesn’t it? 
Wikipedia tells us that, “Kheer is a traditional Indian and Pakistani dish, a rice pudding typically made by boiling rice with milk and sugar.” They also tell us that, “The north Indian version of rice kheer most likely originated in the temple city of Puri, in Orissa about two thousand years ago”.
And that it’s something special, being that it’s served in most festive occasions, such as weddings, birthdays, and religious festivals.
Well, that’s a good enough pedigree for me then, so I went off in search of recipes and found this Kheer recipe at iloveindia:
Ingredients
1/4th cup Long grain Rice (washed and drained)
4-5 cups Milk
2-3 cardamom seeds (crushed)
2 tbsp. almonds (blanched silvered)
A pinch of saffron threads, soaked in a little hot milk
1 tbsp skinned pistachio nuts (chopped)
1 tbsp raisins (optional)
2-3tbsp. sugar or as desired
Method
* Put the rice, milk and cardamom in a pan, bring to boil and simmer gently until the rice is soft and the grains are starting to break up.
* Add almonds, pistachio, saffron and raisins and simmer for 3-4 minutes.
* Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved.
* Remove from heat and serve either warm or chilled.
Sounds simple enough and again it can be eaten cold, which makes it great to make a few portions at once and keep them in the fridge.
Yes, I know it’s obvious I’m partial to all sweet things, but I am particularly partial to Indian sweets and deserts. Can’t help it, I was born and used to live in Birmingham in the UK, where there is a large Asian community. You’d often find me in the Balti houses and Sweet Centers on the Ladypool Road, where I developed something of an addiction to Ras malai.
Until today, I’d never thought of making it myself and, in fact, had no idea what was in it, until I discovered that recipe while looking for the one for Kheer. Looking down the list, I can see me indulging somewhat!
Oh well, you only live once: might as well enjoy it.
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