Kesar Vanilla Kheer (Saffron Vanilla rice pudding)

Kheer (rice pudding) is one of the best and royal Indian desserts. It is considered auspicious and served as an offering for many prayers and rituals. Chilled Kheer is a must have dessert during summers. In India, there is a festival called Sharad Purnima. Traditionally, the festival indicates end of monsoon and is celebrated on a full moon night. On this day, Kheer is prepared and kept under moonlight for the whole night and then consumed as prasad the next morning. Isn't that amazing!

When I was little, my grandfather used to tell me about an Indian belief that if you scrape and lick the Kheer pan from bottom, it will rain at your wedding! I don’t know how true is that but the memories are still so fresh!

Today I have infused my Kheer with two of my favorite flavors- Kesar (Saffron) and VANILLA! Kheer is a common flavor to be added to Kheer but just as an experiment, I added a few drops of vanilla essence to the finished Kheer. It turned out quite well and the fusion of flavors compliment each other perfectly! The nuttiness that almonds and pistachios give to the Kheer makes it so delicious. The method to prepare Kheer is pretty easy but just a tad bit time consuming as you have to reduce milk by boiling on low heat for quite a while stirring often. The end result, however, is worth the effort!

Ingredients:

Whole milk- 4 cups

Rice- 1 cup (washed and soaked)

Saffron strands- 6-8 (soak in 2 tbsp warm milk for 30 min)

Vanilla essence- 1/2 tsp

Almonds- 1/4 cup (chopped)

Pistachios- 1/4 cup (chopped)

Method:

1. In a thick bottom pan (very important as milk will not stick to it), heat milk and rice.

2. Bring it to a boil and keep stirring often. Reduce heat to med-low.

3. Cook until milk reduces to 1/3rd the original quantity. Stir often so that milk doesn't stick to bottom.

4. Add saffron mixture and vanilla essence. Turn off heat.

5. Add almonds and pistachios. Cool for some time and then refrigerate.

5. Garnish with chopped pistachios and serve chilled!

Give it a try with infusing vanilla (if you are a fan of vanilla like me) and do share in comments how it turned out. I am sure the flavor will mesmerize you.