Kheer is one of the oldest sweets in India, offered at temples, made for birthdays and festivals, and eaten warm or chilled after a special meal. The best kheer is not rushed. The milk reduces slowly, the rice breaks down and thickens it naturally, and the colour deepens to a soft ivory. A small amount of ghee at the beginning and end is what gives temple and wedding kheer its particular richness.

Ingredients

¼ cup short-grain rice (gobindobhog, sona masoori or broken basmati)
1 litre full-cream milk
1 tbsp ghee, plus 1 tbsp for the nuts
⅓ to ½ cup sugar, to taste
¼ tsp cardamom powder
A pinch of saffron, soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk
10 almonds, sliced
10 cashews, halved
1 tbsp raisins
A few pistachios, sliced, for garnish

Method

Wash and soak the rice. Rinse the rice and soak for 20 minutes. Drain well.
Toast the rice in ghee. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the drained rice and stir for 2 minutes until fragrant and coated. This adds flavour and helps the rice hold its shape at first.
Add the milk. Pour in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring so it does not catch.
Simmer slowly. Lower the heat and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping the sides and bottom. Scrape the malai that forms on the sides back into the kheer; it adds richness.
Check the consistency. The rice should be completely soft and breaking down, and the milk reduced by about half and thickened.
Add sugar. Add sugar only now. Adding it early slows the rice cooking and can make the milk catch. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
Flavour. Add cardamom and saffron milk.
Fry the nuts in ghee. In a small pan, heat 1 tbsp ghee. Fry the almonds and cashews until golden, then add raisins until they puff. Pour the nuts and ghee over the kheer.

Tips for good kheer

Use a heavy pan. Thin pans burn milk. A heavy-bottomed pan or a non-stick pot is safest.

Full-cream milk. Toned milk gives a thin kheer that never becomes creamy.

Sugar at the end. Always.

Kheer thickens as it cools. Stop cooking when it is slightly thinner than you want.

Jaggery kheer

For gur ki kheer, let the kheer cool slightly until just warm, then stir in grated jaggery. Adding jaggery to boiling milk can make it split.

Why ghee in kheer?

The ghee used to toast the rice adds a subtle nuttiness under the sweetness of the milk. The ghee-fried nuts on top give a burst of roasted flavour and a glossy finish. It is a small amount of ghee in a large pot of milk, but kheer tastes noticeably flatter without it.

For festivals and offerings

Kheer is a traditional offering during Navratri, on Sharad Purnima when it is often left out under moonlight, and at many pujas. Make it the day before if you like; it keeps in the fridge for two days and many people prefer it chilled.

Kheer is forgiving about most things except the heat under the pan. Keep it low, stir often, and finish with nuts fried in a spoon of A2 Gir Cow Ghee.