Rice kheer aka chawal ki kheer was one dessert that my mom made in our home on a regular basis growing up. No celebration or festival was complete without a bowl of kheer. In fact, whenever we wanted to have dessert, we would beg mom to make either atta halwa or rice kheer. It is the quintessential Indian dessert that every Indian grows up eating because it needs only a handful of ingredients. Flavored with cardamom, nuts & rose water, kheer is the best way to finish off an Indian meal.
A lot of Indian desserts are made with milk and milk products. In fact, if you take any of the popular Indian sweets like rasmalai, burfi, or kheer, they all have milk products in them. The reason is that milk was very easily available to the common Indian population and so people used them in several forms to make treats. My grandmother would cook the milk for hours and make peda and kheer whenever we visited her during our summer vacations.
Kheer is Indian rice pudding made with rice. However kheer can be made with other things as well like tapioca pearls, carrots, almonds etc. I love all variations but if you are looking for a classic Indian dessert, then it doesn’t get better or more authentic that a bowl of rice kheer or chawal ki kheer as we would call it in Hindi.
Common Flavor Additions
A simple rice kheer that my mom made was always made with only rice, sugar and milk. But there are many ways to flavor it, in fact my recipe also uses some of these flavor enhancers.
- Cardamom: it is the most common spice added to flavor the kheer and also my favorite. I never make my kheer without it.
- Rose Water: a splash of rose water goes a long way in giving the kheer that flowery aroma. Add it towards the end for the aroma to linger on.
- Saffron: this was not used commonly in my home. But if you are making kheer for a special occasion then you can add some strands of saffron. It will give the kheer a floral and sweet aroma and flavor/
- Nuts: I personally love nuts in my kheer. I usually add cashews and almonds. I like raisins too, but my husband isn’t a fan so I don’t usually add them.
- Kewra essence: it’s an extract distilled from pandanus flowers and used to flavor lot of Indian dishes and desserts. I add it sometimes, but it is completely optional.
- Vanilla extract: this wasn’t traditionally used but I like using it in my kheer sometimes.
Type of rice to use
I have made this kheer with basmati rice since that’s what I usually have in my pantry. In my home, kheer was made with a short grain rice called “kala namak”, it’s a popular rice variety in eastern Uttar Pradesh, where my family is from.
Some people prefer kheer only with short grain rice like gobindobhog, so it comes down to a personal preference. If you prefer short grain rice and only have basmati rice in hand, mash some of the rice with the back of your spoon or use a spice grinder to crush it a little.
My recipe makes kheer in the traditional way, on stove top. It takes some time to cook kheer the traditional way, but the result is worth it. A quick and easy way to make kheer is using the Instant Pot where you dump everything in the instant pot and let it cook on the porridge mode. There are also some hacks to make kheer quickly like using cornstarch to thicken it or using condensed milk.
Let’s Make Rice Kheer
- Soak the rice before tossing in ghee
Wash the rice until the water turns clear and then soak it in water for around 20 minutes. Toss it with a little ghee and green cardamom pods after draining the water.
- Boil the milk
Keep stirring at regular intervals so that milk doesn’t get stick to the bottom of the pan. Remember to use a heavy bottom pan else the chances of milk getting burnt is high.
- Cook the kheer on low heat before adding sugar
After the milk comes to boil, I lower down the heat and let the kheer cook for around 25 minutes on low heat until it becomes creamy and the rice is completely cooked. Then add the sugar as per your taste.
- Stir in nuts and flavoring agents
Add nuts of choice and any flavoring agent that you like at this point. The commonly used ones are rose water, kewra extract, cardamom powder, and vanilla. You can server kheer hot or cold, I personally love it chilled, straight from the refrigerator.
Manali’s Tips
- To make this kheer vegan, swap the regular milk with almond milk or oat milk and follow the rest of the recipe as it. Also skip the step of sauteing the rice with ghee. Or you can use nondairy butter for this step.
- Use whole milk to make the kheer, it makes the kheer richer and creamier. I would not recommend using low-fat milk for this recipe.
- This kheer recipe uses ¼ cup of rice for 1 liter of milk. You can use 1/3 cup of rice for a thicker kheer. Keep in mind that kheer thickens considerably as it cools down so adjust the consistency and ratio of rice and milk accordingly.
- Use a heavy bottom stainless steel pot to make this kheer recipe. Kheer tastes better when made in a steel pot and the thick bottom prevents the milk from sticking to the bottom.
Kheer Recipe (Indian Rice Pudding)
Ingredients
- ¼ cup rice, 50 grams , I used basmati rice or use ⅓ cup for a thicker kheer
- 1 teaspoon ghee, also known as clarified butter
- 3-4 green cardamom pods, slightly crushed
- 1 liter whole milk, 4 cups
- 4-5 tablespoons sugar, 50-62.5 grams , adjust to taste
- 3 tablespoons chopped nuts, I used chopped cashews & almonds
- 1 & ½ teaspoons rose water, optional
Instructions
- Rinse ¼ cup basmati rice (50 grams) until water turns clear. Then soak the rice in 1 & ½ cups of water for 20 to 30 minutes. Once 30 minutes are up, drain the water using a colander and set the rice aside. You can use 1/3 cup of rice if you prefer a thicker kheer.
- Heat a heavy bottom pan on medium heat. Then add 1 teaspoon ghee to it and then add the soaked & drained rice to the pan. Also add 3-4 green cardamom pods (crushed).
- Toss the rice with the ghee and cardamom for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly until aromatic. Then add 1-liter whole milk to the pan and stir well. Set heat to medium-high.
- Let the milk come to a boil, this will take around 10 to 12 minutes. Keep stirring in between with a spatula so that the milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Once the milk has come to a boil, lower the heat to low and let the kheer cook for around 25 minutes on low heat. Stir every 2 minutes or so. The milk will reduce considerably after 25 minutes, and the kheer will look thick, and the rice will be completely cooked. If you want super thick kheer, cook for 15 more minutes at this point.
- Now, stir in 4-5 tablespoons sugar (according to taste) and mix. Also add 3 tablespoons nuts (chopped).
- Cook the kheer for 5 to 10 more minutes after adding the sugar and nuts. The sugar should dissolve completely. Don't worry if your kheer doesn't look very thick at this point. It will continue to thicken as it cools down.
- Remove the pan from heat. Stir in 1 & ½ teaspoons rose water (if using). Garnish with more nuts and serve the kheer warm or chilled. I love mine chilled and serve it after chilling it in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours.
Instant Pot Kheer
- To make the kheer in the Instant Pot, add ¼ water to the instant pot followed by milk, rice, sugar and cardamom pods. You can also add saffron or vanilla if you like. You can also stir in the nuts now or sauté them in ghee in a separate pan and add later.
- Close the lid (make sure the rings is completely clean else milk might curdle). Press the porridge button and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid and give the kheer a stir. Add rose water (if using). Press the sauté button and let the kheer simmer on sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. It will continue to thicken as it cools down. Serve hot or chilled.
Notes
- Leftover kheer and can kept in the refrigerator for 2 days. Reheat on stovetop as it might become too thick after sitting in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I love Indian food, and rice kheer is my favorite. I’ve been looking for a good recipe, and this is the best one! It’s simple to make and so creamy! I used coconut milk and chopped peanuts.
Glad you enjoyed Kimiyo!
Hi Manali, thanks for the recipe. I used coconut almond milk, condensed milk and butter. I’m a ginger lover, so I added 1/4 teaspoon of ginger and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom with raisins and toasted nuts. My family LOVED it. I couldn’t believe how easy your recipe was to put together. Thank you.
Thanks Karen, glad you all enjoyed!
When do you add the sultanas please?
I will fry them in a little ghee until they plump up and then add to the kheer
I looked up the word ‘liter’ in the dictionary….sounds like that amounts to 1 3/4 cups for the milk in the recipe.
Is that accurate?
no, 1 liter is around 33 oz which is US cups is around 4 cups (a little more than 4 cups actually because in US 1 cup is 8 oz)
For those using 3x the ingredients, the reducing will take 2-4 times as long if you don’t want to stir constantly and cook in a paella dish.
Electricity here is very expensive, is it ok to use condensed milk instead of reducing fresh milk?
It makes infusion so complicated!
I used whole milk, coconut fat, jasmine rice, and sweetened condensed coconut milk last time. I don’t really like coconut but cardamom made it really good.
By the way, the 3 times recipe doesn’t multiply the rice in grams, only volume.
yes condensed milk can be used ! Growing up in India, we didn’t use condensed milk for kheer so this is a traditional way of making kheer. But condensed milk can definitely be used to cut short the cooking time. Regarding recipe not multiplying in grams, that’s unfortunately the plugin issue and I can’t fix it 🙁
Just made this (I used reconstituted milk from milk powder bc I don’t have a fridge and also butter instead of ghee) and it was very good! My boyfriend also really liked it, will definitely be making this again in the future. Thanks for the recipe!
welcome! thanks for trying!
Just made the kheer exactly as per the recipe and it tastes fabulous! And so damn easy to make <3 Thank you for the recipe!
welcome! thanks for trying!
How finely do you crush the cardomom pods and do you remove them after you add the milk?
Crush it using a mortar and pestle finely. Yes you can remove the skin of the cardamom pods, but the seeds will be difficult to pick out. You can use cardamom powder in place if you like.
I just made this recipe. Delicious! Thank you.
I checked the strength of the cardamom flavor during the 25 minute cooking time. I “slightly crushed” the cardamom pods to begin with. The pods were old and the flavor seemed weak. So I added a few more pods and ground them up a bit in the mortar and pestle before adding them. Some black seeds remained and some were ground up. The flavor came out perfect at the end.
Thanks again.
welcome, glad you enjoyed!
This came out really good! My family enjoyed it.
We used to go eat at an Indian Buffet in Texas and they always had a huge steel pot of Kheer on ice at the end of the buffet line for dessert.
We LOVED that rice kheer and this recipe of yours, Manali is really good – so close to that restaurant we frequented – brings back fond memories. I did not use rose water because I didn’t have any and I used ground cardamom because I didn’t have pods, still came out so good. Thanks for sharing it 🙂
Thanks for trying, glad you enjoyed it!
I had leftover Basmati rice I hadn’t eaten at an Indian restaurant and used that to make this. I had to improvise since I wasn’t cooking the rice. I’m happy with the result but was wondering if you had suggestions about how you’d modify the recipe if you have already-cooked rice. Thanks.
Thanks for trying! I have never made kheer with cooked rice. But you can mix cooked rice (you can even blend the rice a little) with sugar and milk and cook for around 10 minutes until desired thickness in reached.
Is there a brand of rose water and kewra that you can recommend? Have never used either of these products and would hate to not like them because I got an inferior brand. I tend to shop by price unless I know a particular brand is worth the additional money. Thanks
I don’t have a favorite brand. Any brand at Indian or middle eastern grocery store is okay. I have used sadaf brand in the past for rose water.
I am going to try your rice kheer recipe. I found it while looking for recipes using cardamom. My swedish heritage uses cardamom and I’m always looking for new and different recipes. My question about your recipe is that you call for cardamom pods slightly crushed. So you put the pod in too? Do you take it out later? Or does it cook down so you can eat it. I don’t want to have someone choke on it! When I cook with whole cloves or bay leaves I always count what I put in so I get them back out before serving. Thanks!
you can take it out before serving. In many houses in India, we often serve kheer with the cardamom pod in it and we just put it on the side before eating. If you have biting into cardamom, use cardamom powder
Hey there I have just made this Kheer. It turned out so well I made x3 and it took much longer to boil and reduce. Very happy with the result. My question is how long can you keep kheer refrigerated for, before it’s no longer good?
I would consume within 3 days 🙂 glad you liked the recipe!
Excellent kheer. The rosewater and kewra, even though optional, absolutely makes this kheer just as wonderful from the kheer at restaurants. Thank you for sharing an amazing, easy to follow, detailed and thoroughly written and DELICIOUS recipe!
so glad you liked it!
Do you have a brand of rosewater and kewra you can recommend? And do you get it locally or online? I’m new to these products. Thanks.
Simply incredible. Loved the flavor.
Made it tonight and turned out so good! Thanks for the recipe!
if I wanted to add kewra, how much should I use?
1/2 teaspoon
do you use the kewra in addition to the rosewater or in place of it?
you can use both or just one. Personal choice. I often use both, just a tiny bit though else it can get overpowering
I am making kheer right now. My family loves kheer we had it few times when we went to an Indian restaurant.
this also works really well with full fat coconut milk (as we are vegan) as an alternative to almond milk. thank you – a lovely recipe!
I have made this three times already! I use almond milk and sweetener (sucralose) instead of sugar. It’s perfect to finish a meal with.
Hi! This looks soooo good. Have you ever tried using ground cardamom? If so, how much should I use for this recipe? Thank you, Sheila
Start with 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom and go from there! Add it towards the end for maximum aroma 🙂
We made this last night and it was fabulous!! We will definitely be making this again!
Thanks so much for sharing this receipe!
The green cardamon gets lightly crushed so the seeds still remains inside? Do you remove the cardamom after kheer is cooked?
You use just the seeds and no you don’t need to remove it from kheer. If you don’t want them, just use cardamom powder
Very tasty, and got compliments from my Nepali and Pakistani student workers – gave them a welcome taste of home.
glad to know!
Can I use Jasmin rice or Japanese rice? That’s what I have.
you can try with jasmine rice
So disappointed. Followed this recipe perfectly. Used the 1/4 cup rice and 4 cups milk (converted liter to cups). Made it last night. Put in fridge overnight. Did not thicken at all. So wasteful!!
Hi Sarah, sorry it didn’t work. But there’s no way the kheer won’t thicken after cooking the milk for more than 30 minutes. Kheer is a very basic Indian recipe which was made almost every month by my mom and I also make it very very often. So, I am very confident that this recipe is just fine. I think your intensity of heat was too low , maybe try medium-low for your gas next time. Also, as I mention in the recipe card, use 1/3 cup for thicker kheer if that’s what you prefer. This is how kheer is made traditionally, you do need very little rice compared to milk. This isn’t supposed be super thick like American rice pudding. Also everyone has a different preference when it comes to the texture of kheer.
The kheer turned beautifully. Superb and perfect recipe,.Thank u so much
welcome Gopa!
Did you cook uncovered? Must be uncovered to reduce. I would use more rice than 1/4 cup, personally, but since I detest American Rice Pudding that is super thick (gelatinous, even!), I prefer something looser like this.
Can you use brown sugar
you may
Hi, can we use butter instead of ghee? Thanks!
sure!
I’ve tried this recipe before and I love it! I like it warm – is it ok to reheat the next day?
absolutely ok, you might need to add little milk while re-heating as it thickens a lot
This kheer is among my favorite things ever. I have made it several times and love the texture and the flavor, it’s heavenly. I prefer the rice pudding to be on the thicker side so I use 1/3 cup rice and cook it for an extra ten minutes, but that’s just based on your texture preference, it’s great no matter how you make it. Also, the rose water is not optional in my opinion, I love it’s flavor and the way it combines with the cardamom, I always add a full two teaspoons. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Welcome Laila 🙂 glad you like kheer 🙂
Any chance you can make this with leftover basmati rice that’s already been cooked? Trying to find stuff to make with leftover rice. Also, you should mention how good this is to dip Naan in! My local Indian restaurant owner got me hooked on that! 😉
Hmm I would cook the milk first alone until it thickens and then add the cooked basmati to it. Try it and let me know!
I suspect this is how restaurants prep this, but without the starch from the rice, it may not thicken as much. Maybe add a touch of starch to the milk?
we don’t use cornstarch in kheer at all, that’s not hot traditionally kheer is made and mine thickens a lot as is 🙂
So delicious and very tasty
glad to know Gemma
I used your kheer recipe this today and it got really delicious! So simple and easy and good.
Thanks for the recipe! ☺️
Glad to know Lotte!
Kheer is very tasty I do cook for my India boss here in Nigeria
Hi, I followed this recipe it is very nice but I have a problem with the rice it is still uncooked. Can you suggest anything I could do?
Ahh I am not sure what’s going on. It’s strange for the rice to remain uncooked after being cooked for so long (more than 30 minutes in this case). Which rice did you use? Did you soak it like mentioned?
Can you use ground cardamom instead
absolutely, use 1/2 teaspoon and go from there
Stunning! I made this back in January and it turned out far better than I could of anticipated. I’m making it again this weekend 😋 a new favourite.
glad to know Emma! 🙂
I followed the recipe exactly and cooked extra the time, and it was runny even after being chilled overnight. I would have liked it more if it had more of a pudding consistency. Should I put it back in a pot and keep cooking or is it too late?
you can put it back and cook some more. Kheer isn’t always super thick. It’s a very personal preference. Our homemade kheer which mom made was never like a thick pudding.
Followed this recipe to the last detail. Even made my own ghee which turned out great!
Smelt amazing and tasted good.
However, consistency turned out as a runny slop despite simmering for 45 minutes and waiting for it to thicken and the milk to reduce. Just did not happen 😔.
I can make rice pudding , but this recipe just did not turn out as it should have. Will not make again.
Hi Debbie, sorry you had trouble. I am unable to understand how milk would not thicken after simmering for 45 minutes. This has nothing to do with my recipe but just basic cooking. If you cook the milk for 45 minutes, it will thicken no matter which recipe you follow.
At what point should we add rosewater, if we are using it?
at the very end so that you get the maximum aroma
This was so good! I was worried that it would be too thin, so I made it with 1/2 cup of rice and that was a little too much – maybe 1/3 cup? I like things not to be too sweet and I also like a lot of rosewater so I added 2 tsp rosewater and only 3 tbsp sugar, which I think worked well. Overall, it was delicious and I will definitely make again.
What’s 1 serving size ?
around 1/4 to 1/3 cup
I was a little worried when I saw that this recipe needed 1 litre of milk for what I thought was so little rice—but I’m glad I trusted the process because this kheer turned out BEAUTIFULLY! Absolutely delicious ❤️ It’s seriously good with any spice on top—cinnamon, nutmeg, almonds, anything. Thank you!
Welcome Megan, glad you liked it!
An Indian friend is hosting a dinner party for a group of friends from my gym. She’s treating us to homemade Indian food and asked that we bring dessert. I wanted to honor her heritage and theme by attempting to make an Indian dessert (I’m not Indian). Would it be weird for me to bring this? Or is there something else you’d recommend?
Do you add unsalted and/or raw nuts??
I think that’s a very sweet gesture, you can also make a simple halwa like sooji halwa: https://www.cookwithmanali.com/sooji-halwa/
I always add raw nuts to kheer, you can sauté them separately in little ghee if you want.
Mine turned out bit runny so I think my stove’s “low” might have been too low but the flavor was phenomenal! I did add some saffron. Thank you Manali!
glad you like it! it thickens a lot as it cools down
Like the receipe I want to make this kheer for 8 people. Can you please give the quantity of rice milk and sugar please.
Thanks
Deviani
double the recipe, should be good
Lovely recipe. Thank you!
Has anyone tried freezing this? I have lots left over and my toddler only has small amounts.
you can try, I will freeze in small cubes!
Amazing easy recipe with fantastic results .
Thanks for this .
It’s a hit with all my guests .
I add saffron to it and this gives a lovely flavour.
glad to know!
At what part of the recipe do you add saffron? I am planning to add too but don’t know when in the recipe.
add with the sugar. You should first let it bloom my adding pinch of crushed saffron strands to 1 tablespoon warm milk, let stand for 5 minutes for the color and flavors to develop and then add in the recipe along with the sugar.
Tried and shared recipe.
Simplest and best one I’ve found in years.
Thank you so much
Hi! Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe. I have prepared it numerous times and I usually have it with Gulab Jamun.
I’ll be making Butter chicken with naan this weekend and this rice pudding rice recipe will be our dessert!! 👍👍
Is it really 1/4 cup rice to 1 litre of milk? After 24 hours in the fridge, hoping it would turn into something more than a big bowl of milk with a little bit of rice, I am confused.
it indeed is! you cook the milk for a long time, it reduces a lot and then also continues to thicken as it cools. If you want a super thick kheer, use 1/3 cup rice but not more than that. This is how kheer is made!