1,000 Indian Recipes (317 page)

As a breakfast, this pudding tends to be served warm and on the thin side; as a dessert, it is generally thick and creamy and always chilled. You do not have to cook it any differently to make it thicker—it will thicken as it chills in the refrigerator.

2 tablespoons
Dessert Masala

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

¹
⁄
₂
cup fine semolina

2 tablespoons shelled, coarsely chopped raw almonds

4 cups whole milk

¹
⁄
₄
cup sugar, or to taste

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon ground green cardamom seeds

1.
Prepare the dessert masala. Then mix the butter and semolina in a medium heavy wok or saucepan and cook over medium heat until fragrant and a few shades darker, about 5 minutes.

2.
Add the almonds and milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Mix in the sugar, cardamom seeds, and half the dessert masala and cook 1 minute.

3.
Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with the remaining dessert masala, and serve hot, or refrigerate at least 4 hours and serve chilled.

Parsi Semolina Pudding

Parsi Ravo Kheer

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Flavored with vanilla extract and dry-roasted or deep-fried nuts and raisins, this creamy pudding, often called white
halva
, comes to me from my Parsi sister-in-law, Khushnoor. In her family, this dessert is served on auspicious occasions, like when a member of a family living in America visits home—in other words, me.

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped almonds, dry-roasted or deep-fried (
Dry-Roasting Spices, Nuts, and Flours
)

1 tablespoon cashews,
dry-roasted
or deep-fried

1 tablespoon raisins,
dry-roasted
or deep-fried

4 cups whole milk

¹
⁄
₄
cup sugar

2 tablespoons fine semolina

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 drops vanilla extract

1.
Prepare the almond, cashews, and raisins. Place 3
¹
⁄
₂
cups milk and the sugar in a large, heavy wok or saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring, over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring and scraping the bottom and the sides of the wok often, until it is reduced by half, 15 to 20 minutes.

2.
In a bowl, mix the semolina and the remaining
¹
⁄
₂
cup milk, then add to the thickened milk in the wok, stirring constantly to avoid the formation of lumps.

3.
Add the butter, 1 teaspoon at a time, stirring constantly until the pudding is thick and creamy, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, mix in the vanilla extract, and garnish with the almonds, cashews, and raisins. Serve hot, or refrigerate at least 4 hours and serve chilled.

Tapioca Pudding

Sabudana ki Kheer

Makes 4 to 6 servings

This is another light and easy-to-digest
kheer
that makes a delicious breakfast food. Serve chilled as is, or topped with fresh fruit or with puréed berries.

This is the one
kheer
I actually prefer to make in the microwave. Make sure to use a very large bowl—the milk and tapioca need room to bubble up while they cook. The dish can be made on the stove, but be prepared for a lot of clean-up as the combination of tapioca and milk stubbornly sticks to the pot.

¹
⁄
₂
cup medium pearl tapioca

1 cup water

4 cups whole milk, plus more as needed

2 tablespoons shelled, coarsely chopped raw pistachios

³
⁄
₄
cup sugar, or to taste

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon ground green cardamom seeds

1 to 2 drops rose essence

4 to 6 (4-inch) squares silver leaves (optional)

1 tablespoon ground raw pistachios

1.
In a large microwave-safe dish, soak the tapioca in the water, about 2 hours. Then mix in 3 cups milk and cook, uncovered, in the microwave on high power, about 10 minutes. A thin skin will have formed on the surface. Carefully break the skin, being sure to avoid the steam that will escape, and stir well.

2.
Stir in the chopped pistachios and the remaining milk, and put the dish back in the microwave. Cook on high power 15 minutes total, stopping to stir at 3-minute intervals, until the pudding is thick and creamy. During the last 3 to 4 minutes, add the sugar. If the pudding becomes too thick, add more milk as needed.

3.
Transfer to a serving bowl, mix in the cardamom seeds and rose essence, and bring to room temperature, either uncovered (but stirring often to prevent a skin from forming) or covered with plastic wrap. Garnish with silver leaves and ground pistachios and serve hot, or refrigerate at least 4 hours and serve chilled.

Indian Vermicelli Pudding

Seviyan ki Kheer

Makes 4 to 6 servings

This pudding calls for roasted
seviyan
vermicelli, which is found only in Indian markets.
Seviyan
is incredibly delicate and thin—much finer than angel hair pasta—and comes in foot-long lengths, which are broken into smaller pieces before cooking.

1 tablespoon
Dessert Masala

5 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons golden raisins

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped blanched raw almonds

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped raw pistachios

1 cup coarsely broken roasted seviyan vermicelli

¹
⁄
₂
cup sugar, or to taste

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon ground green cardamom seeds

1.
Prepare the dessert masala. In a large, heavy wok or saucepan, bring the milk, raisins, almonds, and pistachios to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring constantly, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the vermicelli and continue to simmer, stirring and scraping the sides of the wok often until the pudding is thick and creamy, 3 to 5 minutes.

2.
Add the sugar and cardamom seeds, and cook until the pudding reaches the consistency you desire, keeping in mind that it will thicken as it cools. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with the dessert masala, and serve hot, or refrigerate at least 4 hours and serve chilled.

Paneer Cheese Kheer Pudding

Paneer ki Kheer

Makes 4 to 6 servings

This pudding is very similar in flavor to
ras-malai
(
Paneer Cheese Patties in Creamy Thickened Milk
), because it contains all the same ingredients. The only difference is that the
paneer
cheese in this dish is broken up and not formed into the traditional mouth-watering patties.

1 cup
Paneer Cheese
, coarsely broken (or store-bought) or part skim ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons
Dessert Masala

¹
⁄
₄
cup sugar, or to taste

1 cup water

4 cups whole milk

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon coarsely ground green cardamom seeds

2 drops rose essence

1.
Prepare the paneer cheese. Prepare the dessert masala. Then, in a food processor process the paneer cheese until finely crumbled. (Do not process too much or it will go beyond crumbling and gather into a ball. If using ricotta cheese, do not process.)

2.
Place the sugar and water in a medium wok or saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the processed paneer cheese (or ricotta cheese), reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until most of the water evaporates, 3 to 5 minutes.

3.
Add the milk and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the pudding is reduced by about half and is thick and creamy, 30 to 40 minutes.

4.
Transfer to a serving dish, mix in the cardamom seeds and rose essence, and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. (Stir a few times to prevent a skin from forming on top.) Refrigerate at least 4 hours to serve chilled. Just before serving, swirl in the dessert masala as a garnish.

Almond and Saffron Kheer Pudding

Badaam ki Kheer

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Grainy and pale yellow in color, this delicate
kheer
is a fragrant ending to a perfect meal. Also, try it with a cup of afternoon tea.

1 tablespoon
Dessert Masala

2 cups shelled raw almonds

4 cups whole milk

¹
⁄
₃
cup sugar

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon ground green cardamom seeds

¹
⁄
₄
teaspoon saffron threads

1.
Prepare the dessert masala. Soak the almonds overnight in water to cover by 2 inches. Drain and peel the almonds, then transfer to a food processor and process to make a fine paste.