
This Eidul Azha, go Kheer a la mode!
The only problem you might encounter with these easy-to-make Kheers is keeping your guests away from them.
For me, there can’t be an Eid without the ravishingly delicious Kheer – the ultimate sweet indulgence. A new twist to this traditional delight will surely bring a smile to your lips and, while the tongue revels in its milky glory, its creamy decadence will keep you entranced and craving for more.
Food aficionados like me are fascinated by the Mughals who brought their rich, aromatic food culture, and thereby refined cooking to an art form. The exotic use of spices, dried fruits and nuts makes Mughlai cuisine undeniably unique in style. Extravagant connoisseurs of beauty, they left behind an enduring legacy of culinary excellence that influenced the landscape of Indian cuisine completely and permanently.
They also brought with them refined and courtly etiquettes of dining in which decorating food with fresh flower petals, thin edible foils of silver and cleaning hands after dining by dipping fingers in bowls of rose water was usual practice.
The fast-paced craziness of our present world has rendered it impossible for us to indulge in those elegant dining styles but the taste and flavour can still be recreated and experienced on special occasions like Eidul Fitr and Eidul Azha. Traditional dishes like Mughlai Qorma, Biryani, Nihari, Halwa, Shahi Tukray and Kheer remind us of our rich cultural heritage and what better time to revel in it than Eid?
Eidul Azha brings with it a welcome break from work and everyone seems to be making plans to socialise with friends and family. Parties have to be planned and menus are carefully prepared even for a small gathering. Traditional desserts and sweets are synonymous with Eid and are eagerly awaited in every household.
Life is surely great when a culinary indulgence becomes ‘healthy’. Despite the sugar, these milk-based desserts are full of nutrients, definitely low on the budget and easy to prepare. You’ll have plenty of time to get dressed and put on all the make-up ladies! The only problem you might encounter with these Kheers is keeping your guests away from them.
So today, I bring you three different types of Kheers that you can easily make this Eid at home:
1. Nurjehani Kheer
Ingredients: (serves 6-8)
Milk – 1 litre
Khoya – ½ to 1 cup
Rice –1 cup (boiled)
Sugar – 3 tbsp
Vanilla custard powder – 3 tbsp
Condensed milk – 1 tin
Cham cham (mithai) – 250 grams
Green cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Almond and pistachio – chopped (for garnishing)
Chaandi warq (silver edible foil) – optional

Method:
1. Blend the rice with a little milk to crush roughly.
2. Boil the milk and add rice, khoya, cardamom powder and sugar. Cook this over low heat until slightly thick.
3. Add custard powder, diluted in ¼ cup of milk, stirring rapidly until thick. Let it cool completely.
3. Now add condensed milk and mix well.
4. Dish it out in a serving bowl. Sprinkle chopped almonds and pistachios and dip the cham cham pieces in the kheer. Decorate with it chaandi warq.


2. Kheer Dilruba
Ingredients: (serves 6-8)
Milk – 1 litre
Rice – 1 cup (boiled and mashed)
Sugar – 3 to 4 tbsp
Vanilla custard powder – 3 to 4 tbsp
Condensed milk – 1 tin
Green cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Pineapple chunks – 1 tin
Bananas – 2 to 3 (finely chopped)
Peach – 1 large (finely chopped)
Almonds and pistachios – ¼cup each (finely chopped)

Method:
1. Boil the milk for five minutes and add rice and sugar. Boil it for a few more minutes and then thicken it with custard powder (diluted in a little milk).
2. Add almonds and pistachios. Mix it well again and turn off the flame. Let it cool completely.
3. Add all the fruits and condensed milk into it and garnish with pineapple chunks, almond and pistachio. Chill for four to six hours or overnight before serving for best results.


3. Coconut Kheer
Ingredients: (serves 6-8)
Coconut milk – 2 cups
Sugar – 6 tbsp
Cream – ½ cup
Apple – 1 (chopped finely)
Mixed fruit cocktail – 1 small tin
Tapioca pearls (also called sabudaana) – ½ cup
Water - 2½ cups
Red food colour – a few drops (optional)

Method:
1. Cook the tapioca (sabudana) with water until cooked, translucent and thick.
2. Add sugar and coconut milk and mix quickly. Stir it continuously until it becomes thick. Add cream and red food colour. Then mix well, turn off the heat and let it cool down.
3. Now add all the fruits and chill it before serving.

So there you have it - three simple Kheers that will keep your guests licking their spoons till the very end!
Eid Mubarak to all you kitchen experts (you might as well be one after all the hard work that goes on in the kitchen!).
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