Kheer

Not to be confused with Kheer (Bengali sweets).

Kheer or Kheeri or Payesh, Payasam or Phirni (Hindi: खीर; Bengali: পায়েস; Odia: କ୍ଷୀରି; Sinhala: පායාසම්; Kannada: ಪಾಯಸ; Tamil: பாயசம்; Malayalam : പായസം, Nepali: खिर; Telugu: పాయసం; Punjabi: ਖੀਰ; Urdu: کھیر ) is a sweet dish and a type of wet pudding popular in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by boiling milk, sugar or jaggery, and rice, although rice may be substituted with one of the following: daals, bulgur wheat, millet, tapioca, vermicelli, or sweet corn. It is typically flavoured with desiccated coconut, cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashews, pistachios, almonds, or other dry fruits and nuts, and recently pseudograins are also gaining popularity. It is typically served as part of a multicourse meal, as a dessert.

Kheer

A bowl of kheer
Alternative names	Payasam, Payesh and Ksheeram
Place of origin	Indian Subcontinent
Region or state	India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal
Main ingredients	Rice, milk, sugar, cardamom, jaggery, saffron, pistachios or almonds
Variations	Barley kheer, Kaddu ki kheer, paal (milk), payasam, payesh, chhanar payesh (payesh made with chhana or paneer)
Food energy (per serving)	249 kcal kcal

Etymology

The word kheer is derived from the Sanskrit word for milk, ksheer (क्षीर). Ksheer is also the archaic name for sweet rice pudding.

Origin

Kheer topped with dried fruits and nuts

Kheer was a part of the ancient Indian diet and is mentioned in the Ayurveda.

According to the food historian K. T. Achaya, kheer or payas, as it is known in southern India, was a popular dish in ancient India. First mentioned in ancient Indian literature, it was a mixture of rice, milk and sugar, a formula that has endured for over two thousand years. Payas was also a staple Hindu temple food, in particular, and it is served as Prasāda to devotees.

See also

• Porridge
• Khira sagara