Kesar Kheer

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 5 to 7

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice
• 3 cup water
• 3.5 cup milk
• 200 gms condensed milk
• 1 tsp green cardamom(elachi) powder
• 10 almonds blanched and skin removed
• 10 pistachios
• 10 cashews
• 10 raisins
• 1 pinch saffron(kesar)

Wash the rice properly to remove starch and soak it in the water for half an hour. Also soak to raisins in some water for 10-15 minutes and then drain the water. Drain the water and place the rice in a wok. Place it on a stove top and add milk to it.  Keep the flame high and let the milk come to a boil, stirring every now and then. 

Meanwhile, chop the nuts(almonds, cashews and pistachios) roughly. Once the milk comes to a boil, lower the heat and cook the rice-milk mix, stirring frequently to prevent milk from burning. The mixture will start reducing. Keep cooking till the rice gets cooked and the mixture has reduced to your desired consistency. This may take up to 20 minutes. 

Now add the condensed milk and mix well. Add the elachi powder and almost all of the nuts, keeping few for garnishing. Add 2 tbsps of hot milk to the saffron and mix well. Add the saffron mix to the kheer. Mix well, cook for another 2 minutes and remove from heat. You can either serve it hot but to serve it cold, cool down the kheer quickly by placing the wok in cold water.

Garnish with the remaining nuts and few strands of saffron. Enjoy!!!