The caramel kheer recipe is a simple-yet-royal delicacy that is conventional. It is our normal sweet porridge that involves boiling milk and rice with a sweet ingredient. And here comes the twist! Instead of adding sugar directly, we now add caramel syrup by either caramelizing the sugar from scratch or with the available one!
Adding caramel as the sweetener enhances the taste, flavour and elevates the rich texture of the dish. This kheer or payas is an age-old Indian delicacy from the lands of Odisha. And till today, no festivity is complete without a bowl of kheer as an item in the feast platter.
Now let us look at the short recipe of caramel kheer.
A quick look at the caramel kheer
To start with our caramel kheer recipe, firstly we need to prepare the kheer part. For that, boil a litre or two of milk in a pan. Give a slow stir consistently till it starts to condense a little. Then add half a cup of broken rice (raw) to the boiling milk and let the stirring continue. The rice boils and rises while the milk is condensing further on medium heat. When the content in the pan reduces to 1/3rd of the original amount, stop boiling the kheer. Meanwhile, take a pan and add 3/4th cup of sugar and start caramelizing that. The sugar melts and starts to turn brown or glazy red. Add water to make the caramel to a syrup consistency and give a stir. Let them boil for a few minutes.
Finally, take the caramel sauce and add that to the kheer in the pan and give a nice mix. Let them cook for a few minutes. Then add 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom powder to infuse and elevate the sweetness of the dish. Serve the caramel kheer in a bowl with garnishing of your choice.
Various kheer to relish!
The caramel kheer recipe’s main ingredient is rice here. But you can also add other ingredients like vermicelli (semiya), sooji (Rava), also kheer can be made either from milk or jaggery syrup. The kheer prepared from the latter is way healthier than the former one. To be precise, the jaggery kheer is still a traditional delicacy as a part of offering to Gods in various festivals of South India.
Here are some other sweet recipes you can try –
Modak– Rice dumplings with the stuffing of jaggery and grated coconut is an absolute favourite not only for Lord Ganesh but for everyone.
Badam ke laddu– Tasty and nutritious balls of ground badam and other nuts.
Ghee Mysore Pak– The cubic mix of besan, sugar and ghee that melts in your mouth once you bite a piece.
A healthy spoon of caramel kheer
Kheer, as we all know consists of rice and milk, the staple suppliers of carbs, and calcium for a person. These are the energy tokens for your metabolic and physical activities and strengthen your bones and teeth. A little amount of sweetness, and this is a toddler-friendly food.
Also, the addition of various dry fruits and nuts makes a great supplement of protein content. In conclusion, this small bowl of kheer is a composition of all the major macronutrients needed for one!
Helpful tips to make your caramel kheer
Firstly, you can replace broken rice with vermicelli, to make the caramel kheer recipe. Cannot avail both? No worries try adding sooji as the main ingredient.
To make the recipe super quick, you can opt for bottled caramel syrup or the box available in supermarkets than melting and caramelizing sugar from the scratch.
For garnishing, you can add any dry fruits and nuts you like.
Also, to elevate the flavour of the kheer, you can add milkmaid, cream, maple syrup or honey to it.
Caramelizing and making jaggery syrup or brown sugar syrup also works!
To make the webbed caramel sheet shown in the feature image: Firstly, melt the sugar and caramelize it. Add water to the syrup and let it boil so that it is not too thick or too thin. Then cool the syrup at room temperature then use a spoon and drizzle the syrup on the back of a ladle and make cross structure. Let it cool and take it out gently. Now decorate it on the top of the kheer bowl.
