BADAMI ZAFRAN KHEER
Hi everyone!
Starting mid October till the end of the year it’s festive season, holiday celebrations, lots of birthdays in our family. Growing up in India Diwali was a big deal. New clothes, beautiful decorations, light, fireworks, delicious food, sweet treats, laughter, parties, family get together it seems to be happiness and celebration everywhere.
If you’re not familiar with Diwali, it’s a Hindu holiday celebrated all over India, the subcontinent and it’s diaspora, the holiday has a beautiful deep meaningful thought. Triumph of good over evil, love over hate, light over darkness, new over old. I love that!
Now let’s talk about this dessert.
If you follow me on social media or my blog you’ve probably noticed I don’t make many sweets recipes. That because Ive never been a fan of sweet foods, however I do make desserts for my family, friends and on festive occasions. Ever since my husband found out he was lactose intolerant we both chose to take dairy off our diet. The challenge was to make dairy desserts specially kheer which happens to be hubby’s favorite Indian dessert dairy free.
When it comes Indian sweets it can be cloyingly sweet and uncomfortable, I used healthier sweeteners here and cut back on the amounts drastically. It just as delicious and sweet enough to be comfortable. And on another note; if you look the other way when you hear rice pudding, let me assure you Indian rice pudding is different, it’s richly flavored with cardamom and saffron, nothing like the rice pudding made in the west which seems to have a bad reputation for some reason. If you decide to give it a try remember to tag me on social media or leave a comment here.
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- 1.5 liters almond milk, about 6 cups
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- 3/4 cup almonds or cashews ground into a fine powder
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- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
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- 1/3 cup basmati rice
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- 3 tablespoons maple syrup or more
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- 1/4 teaspoons saffron
- 1 tsp rose water
Garnish
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- 1/4 cup sliced/ chopped mixed nuts, I like pistachios and almonds
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- silver leaves optional
- rose petals
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- Wash and Soak rice for about 10 minutes.
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- In a heavy bottomed saucepan, (I prefer a wok it cooks faster), heat the almond milk, rice, cardamom, saffron and bring to boil then drop it to a low simmer and cook stirring frequently for about 40 minutes, until it reduces to 3/4th of its volume. Scrape the side and add it back to the milk mixture. This adds a nice creamy texture.
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- Add the maple syrup and stir to mix. Cook for another 5 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave it cool. Cover and Chill in the fridge for a few hours.
- Serve in pretty little bowls. Garnish with sliced/chopped nuts, silver leaves and rose petals before serving.
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