Rice Pudding-Kheer is a popular dessert from the northern Indian cuisine. It is typically made by cooking rice with milk and sugar, and is enhanced by cardamom or saffron, and dried fruits and nuts like cashews, almonds, pistachios and raisins. There are many variations and names of this sweet treat all over India. It can also be made with broken wheat, tapioca or vermicelli. Kheer is typically served as a dessert and is often made as an offering during prayer ceremonies or festive occasions.
60 different variations:
Rice puddings are found in nearly every area of the world. There are variations in recipes based on cooking methods and list of ingredients, but rice (or a similar starch) and milk seem to be the common ones in most. According to Wikipedia, there are close to 60 different variations of Rice Puddings around the world.
Arroz Con Leche:
Another popular rice pudding is the Spanish/Latin American dessert called Arroz Con Leche, which literally translates to ‘rice with milk’. My daughters had to make traditional Latin American cuisine for their Spanish class at school. One of them opted to make Arroz Con Leche. She came home with a recipe, and that’s when I realized, how similar it is to Kheer. My daughter’s rice pudding got rave reviews at school and we added another great recipe to our family favorites! If you want to try it, I’ve added that recipe too!
Dairy-Free & Nut-Free Alternative:
This recipe can be made dairy-free by substituting milk with unsweetened, regular Almond milk, or full-fat coconut milk. I’ve tried using low-fat coconut milk, but it just doesn’t taste creamy and smooth like it should. I have observed that whenever I make kheer with almond milk, I do end up adding 1-2 tablespoons of extra sugar. If you want to make it nut-free, use regular milk, and skip the nuts in the recipe.
Coming back to Kheer recipe. I like to flavor mine with freshly ground cardamom. If you don’t like the black specs in it, you can use the store bought version, which is much lighter. Also, you can use raisins, coconut and even saffron to enhance your rice pudding. So, if your version is different than mine, simply use this recipe as a guideline and do your magic.
Rice Pudding-Kheer in Instant Pot is a Game Changer
Till I bought my electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot
How to Prevent the ‘Burn’ message:
My Mom’s Tip :
In order to ensure that the milk doesn’t stick/burn at the bottom of the pan, start by adding 1/4 cup water and then add the milk. Don’t ask me how, but this trick works every single time.
My Tip :
By turning the Saute mode on initially, the milks gets tempered, which means, it warms a bit before we close the lid for pressure cooking. This prevents the milk from curdling. Also, starting with a super clean pot also ensures that. So, wipe your inner pot clean to make sure nothing from the last meal is still sticking to it.
Stove-Top Recipe:
If you were making this on the stove-top, I’d suggest a heavy bottom sauce pot like this one: Non-Stick Sauce Pan
- I start by adding the milk, give it a few minutes to warm up and then add rinsed and drained rice and nuts. Keep the heat at medium-high and stir intermittently, till the milk reaches a boil.
- Turn down the heat on medium and stir till rice get cooked.
- Add sugar and stir till sugar dissolves. You can mash the rice a little using a Potato Masher
– it gives a good texture to the Kheer.
- Turn off the flame till you reach the right texture for how you like your Kheer. I personally, don’t like to thicken it a lot, because it will naturally thicken as it cools down. If it’s too thick, add more milk and adjust the sugar accordingly. Finish by sprinkling in some cardamom powder and enjoy warm or cold!
– it gives a good texture to the Kheer.Some More Instant Pot Desserts
 Salted Caramel lava Cake |
 Cheesecake |
Some More Indian Desserts
 Carrot Burfi |
 Coconut Ladoo |
 Besan Ladoo |
 Carrot Halwa |
 Sooji Sheera |
Rice Pudding- Kheer
Print RecipeIngredients
- Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding)
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 cups 2% milk (Whole milk is ok too)(Almond milk, unsweetened reg
or Coconut Milk
)
- 1/2 cup Sugar
(or to taste)
- 1/3 cup assorted chopped nuts (I use Slivered Almonds
, Cashews
, Pistachios
)(skip for nut-free)
- 1/2 cup Basmati Rice
(or any white rice you have on hand)
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cardamom
(to be added after cooking)
- Some optional ingredients:(to be added before pressure cooking)
- 1 tablespoon Raisins
- 1 tablespoon Unsweetened Flaked Coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon Saffron
- Arroz Con Leche (Latin American Rice Pudding)
- 1/2 cup Jasmine Rice
, rinsed 2-3 times
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 cups 2% milk (Whole milk is ok too)
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
or 1 Cinnamon Stick
or 
)
(or to taste)
, 
, 
)(skip for nut-free)
(or any white rice you have on hand)
(to be added after cooking)
, rinsed 2-3 times
or 1 
Instructions
Prep: Rinse rice 2-3 times or till water runs clear. Soak in water till you arrange everything together. Chop nuts to your liking. Crush cardamom if using fresh.
Turn on Instant pot to Saute Mode. Add 1/4 cup water. Now add the milk. This prevents the milk from scorching the bottom of the pan. Add drained rice, sugar, nuts and give it a light stir. Hit cancel. Set instant pot to Porridge mode for 20 minutes. Valve set to Sealing Mode. Let the pressure release naturally for at least 15 minutes (NPR 15).
Open the lid. You can mash the rice a little using a Potato Masher- it gives a creamy texture to the Kheer. Add ground cardamom and stir. Kheer is ready to eat. You can enjoy this warm or cold!
Notes
If the Kheer is thin for your liking, you can cook of the milk by turning on the SAUTE mode. But remember, that it will thicken quit a bit as it cools. If Kheer is too thick for you, you can add more milk to it and cook it till the milk boils. Remember to add more sugar in that case.
6 Comments
Dipalee
February 1, 2018 at 12:14 pmHi Aneesha.. I am a newbie and hence a bit confused. I wish to make sevai kheer in my 3qt mini IP. Are these measurements and time settings for a mini IP? I looked through your site but did not find an altered recipe for a 3qt IP. I am quite worried about the quantity of milk and it spilling over.
aneeshasg
February 1, 2018 at 12:51 pmHi Dipalee, This recipe for rice kheer needs 4 cups of milk. It can be made in a 3 Qt too. To test that, fill your 3Qt with 4 cups water and you’ll see it is way below the half-way mark. I don’t think it should be a problem. I always recommend warming the milk and adding the initial water so that the milk doesn’t burn or curdle. Hope this helps.
Elizabeth
April 26, 2018 at 3:47 pmHello Aneesha,
Thank you for the Kheer recipe! I have a 6 qt IP and I would like to double your recipe to serve 8. I will double each ingredient. Do I double the cooking time on “porridge” as well or slightly increase it? What do you suggest?
Regards,
Elizabeth
aneeshasg
April 26, 2018 at 3:49 pmHi Elizabeth, cooking time stays the same- 20 mins on Porridge mode. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks, Aneesha
Lakshmi S
April 26, 2018 at 8:23 pmThank you Aneesha for the recipe!!! Loved it! And thank you Elizabeth for the question- having 20 people over this Saturday! Had similar question :).
aneeshasg
April 26, 2018 at 9:49 pmYou’re welcome Lakshmi! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Kheer in IP is a game change for entertaining. I used to dread making kheer for a large crowd, but now it’s the easiest dessert I can make:-)