Kheer Recipe

Name: Kheer
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 55 min
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients: 8 cups Milk, full-fat, about 2 litres; ½ cup Short or broken rice (IRRI / tota), broken or basmati, washed; ¾ cup Sugar, adjust to taste; 6 pods Green cardamom (choti elaichi), lightly crushed; ½ tsp Kewra water; 2 tbsp Almonds (badam), slivered; 2 tbsp Pistachios (pista), slivered

کھیر بنانے کا طریقہ

Slow-cooked rice kheer: a little broken rice simmered in full-fat milk until creamy and pink-tinged, scented with cardamom and finished with nuts.

Prep

10 min

Cook

1 hr 15 min

Marinate / soak

30 min

Serves

Difficulty

Easy

Spice

Mild

Kheer is the everyday festive dessert of Pakistani homes, made for Eid, niyaz, mehndis and any Friday that needs something sweet. Only a small amount of rice goes into a lot of milk, and the long, patient simmer is what makes it thick: the rice breaks down and the milk reduces and turns faintly golden. Lightly crushing the soaked rice helps it release starch, so you get a creamy kheer without any cornflour.

Ingredients

6 servings

For 6 servings

Cups & chamachGrams & ml

8 cups Milk, full-fat, about 2 litres
½ cup Short or broken rice (IRRI / tota), broken or basmati, washed
¾ cup Sugar, adjust to taste
6 pods Green cardamom (choti elaichi), lightly crushed
½ tsp Kewra water (optional)

To garnish

2 tbsp Almonds (badam), slivered
2 tbsp Pistachios (pista), slivered

Method

Soak the washed rice in water, then drain and crush it roughly between your fingers or with a few pulses of a grinder so the grains are broken but not powdered.
⏱ 30 min
Bring the milk to the boil in a heavy, wide pan with the crushed cardamom, stirring so it does not catch on the bottom.
⏱ 10 min
Add the rice, turn the heat to low and simmer, stirring every few minutes and scraping the sides and base, until the rice is completely soft and broken down.
⏱ 40 min
Add the sugar and keep simmering, stirring more often now, until the kheer coats the back of a spoon and has reduced by about half.
⏱ 20 min
Take it off the heat and stir in the kewra if using. It will look slightly runny but thickens a lot as it cools.
Pour into a serving dish or small clay bowls (koonday), scatter the almonds and pistachios on top and chill before serving.
⏱ 120 min

Tips for the best result

Set clay bowls in water for 30 minutes before filling; they absorb a little moisture and give the kheer a firmer top and an earthy smell.
For a richer kheer, stir in 2 tbsp milk powder or a little khoya along with the sugar.
Add sugar only after the rice is soft; sugar added early slows down the cooking of the grains.

Common mistakes

Cooking on high heat to save time. The milk scorches on the base and the whole pot tastes burnt.
Reducing it until thick in the pan. Kheer sets as it cools, so if it is thick when hot it becomes stodgy in the fridge.

How to serve

Serve chilled in koonday or bowls after Eid lunch or a dawat; in winter some families like it just warm.

Storing and reheating

Keeps 3 days covered in the fridge. If it thickens too much, stir in a splash of cold milk. Do not freeze.

Nutrition and cost

Worked out from the ingredients, not measured in a lab. Treat both as a rough guide.

Per serving Estimate

Calories: 385kcal
Protein: 13g
Fat: 13g
Carbs: 55g
Fibre: 0.9g
Sodium: 140mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), public domain values for the raw ingredients (100% of the recipe by weight had data). Deep-frying oil is counted at 20%; bones and water lost in cooking are not subtracted, so bone-in and fried dishes can read high. Not medical advice. Method

Cost per servingEstimate

≈ Rs 76

Whole dish ≈ Rs 460 · 98% of ingredients by weight priced

Prices in

From the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics weekly SPI, week ended 29 Oct 2026. Spices, herbs and some vegetables are not in the SPI and are left out unless you add your price, so the real cost is a little higher. How this works

Kheer: questions people ask

Why is my kheer not thickening?

Either it has not simmered long enough or there is too little rice for the milk. Keep it on low heat a little longer and remember it thickens a lot once cold.