Celebrate the Hindu festival with this flexible recipe for rice kheer made with whichever fruit, grains, and spices you prefer.

Basmati rice simmer in milk infuse with saffron and cardamom , fill the entire house with its clear-cut aroma . My female parent is make kheer , a character of dessert similar to rice pudding and often prepared for festivals . As a child in a small townspeople of Madhya Pradesh , India , this aroma and dish is inextricably link to Diwali , one of the biggest Amerindic festival . Even still today it reminds me of this holiday .

The name Diwali or Deepawali translates to “ row of Light Within . ” The five - day festival note the victory of goodness over evil , knowledge over ignorance , and perch over darkness . It falls in October or November , depending on the Hindu calendar , when hoi polloi will light small crude oil - satisfy earthen diyas , or lamp , outside their homes to stand for the inner light and decorate their household with garlands made of golden - hue marigolds , a blossom tie in with the sun . Throughout those five day the great unwashed come together to make feasts feature dahi wada , or lentil dumplings , served with flavored yogurt , deep - fry noodles called sev , and kheer .

Food is an intact part of festivals in India , and confection , or mithais , hold a special place because they ’re believed to bring joy and good destiny . Indian traditions encompass many cultures , each with its own distinct sweetness metier . That means there ’s usually a dizzying array of pick at fete like Diwali .

Rice Kheer

Rice Kheer|Design by Maitane Romagosa for Thrillist

Puddling - manner kheer is well-off to make and one of the most common particular - occasion sweets , not to cite my personal favorite .

A versatile dish antenna , kheer can express the civilisation , history , and tastes of its maker . To the baseline canvass of Milk River , loot , and dry fruit , you could add any spices , grain , fruit , or other ingredients . require veggies in your kheer ? lend grudge pumpkin vine or carrot . A custard kheer might let in smart yield like mango tree , apricot , bananas , or apples . caryopsis cross Elmer Rice or vermicelli , or you may make a gluten - destitute version with ragi vermicelli . The options are apparently sempiternal .

I like to make mine with rice , chopped junky , and uprise petal . Rice kheer reminds me of unspoiled food for thought , kinsperson , the light of earthen lamp filled with oil , and the redolence of red and jaundiced marigolds . It remind me of Diwali .

Rice Kheer Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients:• ½ cup basmati rice• 2 tablespoon clarify butter or ghee , divided• 5 loving cup whole milk• 3–4 tablespoonful sugar , depending on how sweet-smelling you prefer your desserts• ½ teaspoonful undercoat cardamom• 1 teaspoon raisins• 1 teaspoon cashews• 1 teaspoonful almonds , roughly chopped• 1 teaspoon chopped pistachios , roughly chopped• A fistful of rose petals

Directions:1 .   Rinse the rice in a colander and soak in a sports stadium of room temperature water for 10 mins . Drain.2 .   Put one teaspoonful of clarified butter or ghee in a non - stick genus Pan over medium heat . tot rice and cook , put forward incessantly , for 15 bit . take from heat , put the cooked rice in a arena , and pass over out the pan.3 .   hot up another teaspoonful of clarified butter or ghee in the same pan , run over average warmth , and add cashew nut and raisins . ready until golden brown , and then transport them to the bowl.4 .   In the same cooking pan , pour in milk over intermediate rut and stir invariably until the milk comes to a boil . Then , total Sir Tim Rice . Stir and cook until it ’s cushy but not chewy , approximately 5 - 7 minutes.5 .   concentrate heat to moo , and stir in sugar , the soften cashews and raisins , and cardamom powder . Cook , stirring , for 2–3 minutes.6 .   Remove from heat and cool to room temperature , then transfer to a serving bowl and store in the icebox until chilled , 1–2 hours . Its consistency will thicken.7 .   When you ’re quick to serve , garnish the kheer with roseate petals , crushed pistachio nut and almonds .