Cardamom Rice Pudding (Kheer-Style)
A silky, slow-simmered rice pudding perfumed with crushed cardamom pods and topped with toasted pistachios — dessert that tastes like the tea itself.
If cardamom tea had a dessert twin, it would be this pudding. Inspired by South Asian kheer and Persian sholezard traditions, it simmers rice slowly in milk until creamy, with crushed cardamom pods steeping directly in the pot the whole time.
Patience is the only real technique here. Low heat and frequent stirring over 40–45 minutes coax the rice into a thick, custardy texture without scorching the milk — rushing it with high heat will break the pudding and dull the cardamom's aroma.
Saffron is optional but traditional, lending a golden hue and a faint honeyed note that plays beautifully against cardamom's citrus-eucalyptus edge. A few threads bloomed in warm milk before adding go a long way.
Serve warm or chilled, topped with toasted pistachios and a few extra cracked cardamom seeds for aroma. Pour yourself a cup of cardamom tea alongside it and the two will taste like variations on the same theme.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup basmati rice, rinsed
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 8 green cardamom pods, cracked
- Pinch of saffron threads (optional)
- 2 tbsp warm milk, for blooming saffron
- 2 tbsp slivered pistachios, toasted
- 1 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted
- 1/2 tsp rose water (optional)
How to make it
- 1Bloom saffron (if using) in 2 tbsp warm milk; set aside.
- 2In a heavy-bottomed pot, combine rice, milk, and cracked cardamom pods. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to low heat.
- 3Simmer uncovered, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, for 35–40 minutes until the rice is very soft and the milk has thickened to a creamy, pourable custard.
- 4Stir in sugar and the bloomed saffron milk; cook 5 more minutes until the sugar dissolves and the pudding coats the back of a spoon.
- 5Remove from heat, stir in rose water if using, and pick out the cardamom pods if you can find them.
- 6Serve warm or chilled, topped with toasted pistachios and almonds.
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