Kheer

Kheer is a rice pudding from the cuisine of the Indian Subcontinent, made by boiling rice, broken wheat, tapioca, or vermicelli with milk and sugar; it is flavoured with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashews, pistachios or almonds. It is typically served during a meal or as a dessert. It is also known in some regions as payasam, payasa, gil-e-firdaus and fereni.

Names

The Sanskrit name is क्षीर kṣīra. In Hindi, खीर khīr; Punjabi, کھیر/ਖੀਰ; Odia, ଖିରି khiri; Sindhi, کھیر; Urdu, کھیر; and Nepali: खिर. It is also known as payasam (Tamil: பாயாசம், Telugu: పాయసం, Malayalam: പായസം), payasa (Kannada: ಪಾಯಸ), payesh (Bengali: পায়েস) or payox (Assamese: পায়স),Paays(पायस) in Konkani. The word payasam is derived from payasa, meaning "milk".

Regional variations

Kheer is prepared in festivals, temples, and all special occasions. The term kheer (used in North India) may derive from the Sanskrit word Ksheer (which means "milk"). Other terms like Payasam (the South Indian term, and is known as payasa in Kannada) or payesh (used in the Bengal region) are derived from the Sanskrit word Payasa or Payasam, which also means "milk". It is prepared using milk, rice, ghee, sugar/jaggery, and khoya. Some also add a little bit of heavy cream for a richer taste. It is often garnished using almonds, cashews, raisins and pistachios. There is one more popular version of North Indian kheer, prepared during festivals and havan in Varanasi by using only milk, rice, ghee, sugar, cardamom, dried fruit, and kesar (saffron milk). It is an essential dish in many Hindu feasts and celebrations. While the dish is most often made with rice, it can also be made with other ingredients, such as vermicelli (semiya in South India, seviyan, seviyaan, sayviah, or other spellings).