Payesh / Kheer

Payesh (or Kheer, as it is known in some parts of India, not to be confused with the Bengali kheer) is a great test of culinary craftsmanship. Unless you get the order, the timing and the proportions right, you end up with doodh-bhat.

BTW, the right way, as always, is the Bangal way.

You need about half a gallon (1.1 litre) of good milk, not the fatless tasteless milkless variety. You might also use half-and-half, about half the amount. With that, you take about half a fistful of rice (Gobindobhog / Basmati). You can use about the same amount of Cashew and raisins.

Keep boiling milk, and add some ghee to it the first time it fluffs up. Stir as often as you can. Add two or three pods of cardamom. Keep the basmati rice soaked with some ghee ready. Add it to the milk when the milk is somewhat dense. Add the rice little by little: do not drop it all in together. Keep stirring as you add the rice. The rice should be boiled, very boiled. The final idea is that the rice should be visible, but when you touch a grain it will sort of disintegrate. So the rice almost (not totally,but almost) melts in the milk. That is the reason why you need a high milk-to-rice ratio. Before the stuff is done, add sugar according to taste. Add kaju, raisins etc after that. Do not boil for more than 5-10 minutes after adding sugar. The whole process will take about 90 mins if you are working with half agallon of milk.

It is important to serve this chilled. If you want to have it for dinner, make it in the morning, let it cool and refrigerate it. In the refrigerator,the payesh "sets" into a semisolid consistency.

A little tip: Suppose you are a novice and you want to keep ensuring that the consistency is right and the sweetness is exactly that level you had had when your mom made it. So you keep tasting as you make the payesh. If you do this, remember that it will be much sweeter and thicker when it is cold than when it is hot.