Jump to the Chawal ki Kheer Recipe
In Urdu there is this expression - "haath ka maza" - it literally translates to the taste in someones hand, but is a nod to the idea that there is an intrinsic style to everyone's cooking. My MIL is our resident expert chawal ki kheer maker, while this recipe incorporates a tip from her it does not attempt to be hers. Something about her haath ka maza I think.
It is still really good if I do say so myself and a derivative of this recipe I found from a lovely blog I discovered recently. The blog is called Rookie with a Cookie and she cooks with a zestful passion that had me reading her posts well into the night. Her chawal ki kheer is one that mimics the classic kheer you get in Pakistan, the kind in two earthenware bowls tied together. While I love that dearly, I wanted to make a more homestyle kheer and ended up making a quicker version of hers that incorporates a tip from my MIL.
My favourite part about this recipe is the preboiling of the rice and mashing to teeny tiny pieces. It makes me question my previous raw rice moves. hmmm
Ok so here are my quick kheer tips:-
- Keep your skim milk to yourself
- Do not bust out the nonstick pan, your kheer will burn
- Low and slow is the way to go
Also many of the recent recipes I have been sharing are by request from my instagram fam, if you have something you'd like to see let me know and I will do my best!
Chawal ki Kheer - Pakistani Rice Pudding
Ingredients
- ¼ cup rice, soaked
- 1 litre whole milk
- 5-6 cardamom pods
- 10 tbsp sugar
- ¼ - ½ cup cream (or half n half)
Instructions
- Boil your rice until it is mushy - this is at least 10 minutes of active boiling
- While that happens use a wide bottomed steel pot (NOT NON STICK) to bring your milk to a simmer
- Lightly bruise the cardamom pods and add them to the milk, keep the temperature low,
- Once the rice is mushy, drain most of the water and then mash it up thoroughly on a plate with a fork
- Add to the milk mixture along with the sugar. Mix well.
- Cook on low - a gentle simmer for an hour. The milk will scald at the bottom of the pan but should not burn. Stir with a rubber spatula every now and then to check.
- The kheer will cook down quite a bit in this time, add ¼ cup of the cream you are using and taste - add more sugar or cream if desired
- Serve garnished with nuts or plain.
Notes
Maria says
I’m going to try this, but I only have nonstick pans. What can I do?
Sarah Mir says
hmm Maria I suggest you keep stirring constantly then just to keep an eye on things - I ran into someone recently who told me they use this recipe to make it in their non stick but just keep an eye on the heat / stir frequently! keep me posted on how it goes!
Salman says
Hey Sarah! I'm using your recipe as a base and adding my Mama's twist to it. She uses gurd (jaggery) instead of sugar and calls it gurd ki kheer. It's one of my favourite desserts of hers. Your technique did turn out amazing! Thanks and see you around!
Sarah Mir says
Hey Salman! I love the idea of using gudh here! I am going to give that one a test drive too!
Imran Siddiqi says
Awesome! The mushing of the rice and the 2 clay bowls makes me think this is more of a "phirni" than a kheer. But yummy nonetheless!
Sarah Mir says
You are actually quite right Imran, this is definitely more a phirni approach than a kheer approach, but no one whose ever eaten it has know so I am keeping my secret lol
Izza says
Absolutely brilliant foolproof recipe that I must have made atleast 6-7 times now and always come through!
Sarah Mir says
I am THRILLED to hear that!
Sumaira says
Hi! Can you please confirm how many servings from this recipe?
Sarah Mir says
Hi Sumaira! It's four servings, I'd say about half a cup-ish!
Sukaina JP says
Awesome recipe! Turned out perfect!
Sarah Mir says
Thank YOU for your review!
Aliza says
Hey I have a quick question. I am planning on making this. But you say to use 1/4 cup rice. How much is this in grams etc
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Aliza! That's approximately 50g of uncooked rice!
Mishall says
hello!
I recently discovered this blog and absolutely LOVE it.
I wanted to know the serving size as in how many people it serves generally with this quantity?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Mishall! First of all you have one of my favourite names. My little girl has the same name 🙂 Second I am happy to hear you're enjoying the blog and thanks for catching that I don't have a serving size on there. I would say it serves 6-8 people!
Saira says
This was really good! My first time making it and it came out perfect- maybe even better than my mom's! My entire apartment smells like sugar and ilaichi now 🙂 Thank you for your amazing recipes!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
That smell is the best!!!! Thank you for trying this recipe and I am so so happy it worked out!
Varda Shahid says
Hey Sarah .this looks amazing..trying it out for eid..any ideas if any major stores sell those small clay bowls (tooti wali kheer)...I'm in the East of the GTA
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Varda! SO glad you're trying this out. I am not familiar with East GTA stores but at least on the west side most of the Indian stores seem to carry the little clay bowls sort of where they keep the metal plates and bowls. They are definitely less common in the Pakistani ones!
Herra Khan says
Never made kheer befkre but this sounds so simple so will be trying for Eid InshaAllah!! Just a question about the cream-is the normal cream found in grocery stores (I usually get natrel). Does it need to be light or normal? Thanks so much!
Audi says
Yum!!!
It sounds and looks so good.
😁
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Thank you so much!