Rice Kheer / pudding is a classic Indian dessert. In my community, it is called milk paayasam (pudding), because it is primarily sweetened milk with a few pieces of cooked rice here and there.
Recently, I decided to experiment with the flavors a bit and tried adding some caramel sauce to get that sweet, caramelized taste that goes so well with a milk-based pudding. I recommend making the caramel sauce at home (refer to the recipe below), because you can control the amount of sugar. And it tastes infinitely good when it's home-made. It is also very easy to prepare with just some brown sugar, butter, and half & half (or cream). You can also use store-bought caramel sauce, but be sure to adjust the amount of sweetened condensed milk you add, because the store bought ones are generally too sweet.
It is worth the effort to add the caramel sauce. It makes the pudding so much more flavorful and richer!
Ingredients (serves 6-7):
- 1/4 cup plain, uncooked rice
- 3 cups milk (I used just 2% milk)
- 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup caramel sauce (I use this recipe to make home-made caramel sauce)
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder (freshly ground)
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
- 2 tablespoons raisins
Preparation:
- Cook the rice with 3 cups of milk until the rice is completely cooked and mushy. If you are using a pressure cooker, place any metal (such as a stainless steel spoon or a small plate) in the cooker, otherwise the milk will boil over and you will have a mini milk-volcano spewing all over the kitchen. I cooked for 4 whistles on medium heat.
- When the rice is cooked, mix in the condensed milk and caramel sauce and let everything cook for 10-15 minutes on low heat until everything incorporates well.
- Finally, add the cardamom powder, raisins, and pistachios and mix well.
Serve in a bowl or in a pretty tall glass.
Paal payasam is my fav payasaam but I don't know how to make it in a pressure cooker and the endless stirring discourages me from making it often. I want to try this method. So, should we place the milk and rice directly into the cooker or in a stainless steel vessel surrounded by water - like how rice is cooked at home? Also, I am quite apprehensive about making caramel sauce at home because I've heard caramel tends to bubble and splutter a lot and can burn you badly!! Is that so?
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