Kheer - traditional rice pudding

‘Rakshabandhan’ is a festival celebrated in India with a lot of enthusiasm. This festival is unique to this part of the world as it is a celebration of the special bond that exists between a brother and sister.

It’s that time of the year when you have a string of festivals lined up and there is a lot of festivity in the air. Bengali Market in my neighborhood was totally choc a bloc with people doing their last minute shopping. The shops were spilling over on to the pavement with their display of colorful 'rakhis' (sacred thread tied by sisters on the brother's wrist) and gifts and apart from the traditional rakhi designs there were quite a few funky ones too. Both the sweet shops, Nathu's and Bengali were also jam packed with people and one heaved a sigh of relief that even though the financial pundits might be shorting India, it has not dampened our spirit of joie de vivre.

All my memories of this festival are related to food - of how my mother would get busy in the kitchen from early morning preparing kachoris, kaddu ki sabji,methi ki launji and a whole lot of other dishes that went with it. For mitha (sweet) she always made kheer. My mother was an excellent cook and this western UP food was her specialty. We sisters would go light on the breakfast in anticipation of the yummy food that we were going to feast on. I have continued with the same tradition at my home too and when the children were around they both would be very agog about the goodies being made.

The kheer that I make is a very simple one. The milk along with the rice is put on a simmer for a couple of hours till it takes on a light creamish tinge. The whole essence of preparing  this traditional Indian dessert is to let it cook slowly so that it thickens to a nice creamy consistency and gets that kadha (condensed) flavor. The kheer tastes very good on its own and really does not need any added flavoring. But if one wishes then some cardamom powder can be added to it once it's cooked. Saffron strands can also be added by first soaking them in warm milk to release their flavor and then adding it to the whole milk.

Kheer

2 litres milk (full cream)

6 tablespoons long grained (basmati) rice soaked

11/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon green cardamom (elaichi) powder

8-10 saffron (kesar) strands

Soak the saffron in one tablespoon warm milk. Bring the full cream milk to a boil in a pan with a thick base, add the rice and the saffron and cook on a low heat. Keep stirring the milk from time to time to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Let it simmer till the milk thickens and takes on a creamish hue.

When the kheer is almost done then add the sugar and mix well. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes and then switch off the burner. Now add the cardamom powder and mix.

Transfer the kheer to a bowl and serve either warm or cold.