Kheer Rice: Making Nepali & Indian Rice Pudding

Kheer rice is a short-grain, starchy rice bred to do one job well: break down slowly in simmering milk until it thickens the whole pot into a soft, creamy pudding. It is not the same rice you would cook alongside a curry for an everyday meal.

Regular long-grain rice stays separate and firm no matter how long you cook it, which is exactly wrong for kheer. Our Kheer Rice - 2lbs is milled specifically to release starch as it cooks, so the milk goes velvety on its own without needing cornstarch or condensed milk as a crutch.

If you have only ever cooked with basmati rice, kheer rice will feel different in your hand: shorter grains, slightly chalky, almost like a mini Arborio. That texture is the whole point.

You can technically make kheer with basmati, and plenty of families do, especially with aged rice that has a lower moisture content. The result is fragrant but a bit looser, with grains that stay more distinct.

For the classic thick, spoon-coats-the-back texture you get from a Nepali or Punjabi household, dedicated kheer rice wins. If you want to understand why aged, low-starch grains behave so differently in a pot, our notes on how to cook basmati rice explain the science.

Our advice: keep a bag of proper kheer rice in the pantry next to your everyday basmati. They are not interchangeable, they are two different tools.

Rinse half a cup of kheer rice until the water runs mostly clear, then let it soak for 15 to 20 minutes. This softens the grain so it breaks down faster once it hits the milk.

Bring a litre of whole milk to a gentle boil in a heavy-bottomed pot, then drop the heat low. Add the drained rice and let it simmer, stirring often so nothing catches on the bottom, for 30 to 40 minutes until the mixture has reduced and thickened noticeably.

Crush three or four pods of green cardamom and stir them in along with sugar to taste; we usually reach for white sugar for a clean sweetness. Finish with a handful of golden raisins and chopped pistachios, simmered for another five minutes so the raisins plump up.

Serve warm on a cold night, or chilled after a big meal. Kheer thickens further as it cools, so if you are making it ahead, loosen it with a splash of warm milk before serving.

There is barely a Nepali festival that does not end with a bowl of kheer. It is one of the standard sweets on the Dashain table, and it appears again during Tihar alongside sel roti, right through Maghe Sankranti and Nepali New Year gatherings.

It also shows up at almost every Newari wedding feast, usually served last, as the sweet note that closes the meal.

Because kheer is simple to scale up, it is also the dish people make in the biggest batches when hosting. A single bag of kheer rice goes a long way when you are feeding a room full of relatives.

Chiura kheer swaps some or all of the rice for beaten rice, giving a softer, almost mashed texture that cooks faster. If you want to compare the two main types of beaten rice before you try it, our chiura guide covers the difference between rato and seto chiura.

Makhana kheer is another favourite, especially during fasting periods, where roasted phool makhana is simmered in sweetened milk instead of rice. It has a lighter, puffier bite than a classic rice-based kheer.

Some households also stir in a spoon of ghee at the very end, or a pinch of saffron for colour. Kheer is forgiving that way: the base method barely changes, only the garnish does.

Every ingredient in this guide, the kheer rice, the cardamom, the raisins, the pistachios, is in stock at Danphe Stores and ships from our shop at 3634 East Hastings St in Vancouver to all ten provinces and three territories.

Browse the full rice & flour section for other grains, and check dried fruits for more nuts to toss into kheer, phirni, or sel roti dough.

If you are new to shopping with us, our overview of Nepali and Indian grocery delivery across Canada explains shipping zones, timelines, and how same-day delivery works for Metro Vancouver.