Sheer Kurma is a traditional East Indian recipe and is always counted in Mughlai style of cuisines. This recipe is native to persia but it became a popular cuisine in India during the Moghul era. Sheer Kurma is served during Eid and is prepared otherwise mostly in winter seasons. This kind of dessert tastes best during winters and foodies bet on this words when it comes to this delicious dessert. Sheer kurma is a persian term , sheer means milk and kurma means dry date.
This dish is served on the morning day of Eid in the family right after the morning prayers and is considered most important food of the eid festival. It is there after served to guests and relatives.
This is a kind of dessert and can be served either cold or hot depending how a person wishes to have it. Vermicelli is easily available these days in market and that makes it easy to prepare it. Though the very names of Sheer kurma says its difficult to prepare, it isnt really hard to cook it. Any average or new beginner can try on this with good results. Just all that should be noted is few tips. Hope it pleases all.


Ingredients:
Milk - 1 litre
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Almonds - 1/2 cup, blanched and skin removed sliced thin
Pistachios - 1/4 cup, blanched and skin removed sliced thin
Saffron - 1/4 teaspoon
Vermicelli - 1/2 cup, roasted and broken up (ready made roasted and broken vermicelli is available in market too)
Rose water - 1 teaspoon
Kewra essence - 4 drops
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Dry dates - 5-6 nos, soaked and chopped into 4 pieces .

Method:

1. Take a deep bottom vessel and pour milk in it.
2. Bring the milk to boil on a medium heat.
3. Once it boils, turn the flame to low and continue to heat it . Let it boil till it reduces to 2/3 quantity.
4. Now add sugar and continue to boil till the sugar gets dissolved. It takes about 5 minutes.
5. Keep stirring while the sugar gets dissolved to avoid the sugar from sticking the bottom of vessel.
6. Add the raisins and dates when the sugar gets dissolved and cook it further for 5 minutes.
7. Now add the vermicelli and cook for 3-4 minutes. Keep stirring often.
8. Add the saffron (kesar) to it milk and stir well.
9. Once the vermicelli softens , reduce the heat and cook it for 15 minutes more.
10. Keep stirring often.
11. Now turn off the heat and add the rose water and kewra essence.
12. Keep it aside for some minutes.
13. Garnish it with chopped and blanched almonds and pistachios.
14. Serve hot or cold as per desire.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Serves: 4 persons

Shelflife: 1 day

Serving Suggestion: Serve hot either hot or chilled after meals.

Note:

• Roast the vermicelli till it changes the colour. But dont ever over fry it.
• Reduce the milk to some quantity by heating it. U can measure it by the thickness of milk .
• You need not Reduce it to half the amount but just 2/3 of quantity.
• For blanching the almonds and pistachios, boil 2 cups of water and put the almonds and pistachios in it. Keep it inside the boil water for some 10 minutes. Then drain the water and removed the skin. You can then chop them thin into desired shapes .
• Kewra essence is available in market. It is used to add a aromatic touch to the cuisine. Rose water too does the same.
• Saffron is added to give the cuisine a good colour.

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Kheer is a traditional Indian sweet. Kheer may be called as Rice pudding in English. In India , Kheer is given high importance than any other food. It is symbolic to festive food and special occassions. Kheer is considered good luck in various as per indian values. There is saying called "Muh meeta karlo, Subh kaam shuru karlo" which signifies the importance of sweets in India.
Basically Kheer is a sweet dish basically made of rice, milk and sugar or jaggery as its main ingredients with added flavours of nuts which is also used for decoration.

The preparation of Kheer starts with boiling the milk and reducing it or skimming it, followed by adding nuts and sweetener. In India and its sub-continent, Kheer is used in major festivals in every religion. For instance, Hindus prepare it during Diwali, Holi , Karwa Chouth etc.. and muslims prepare it for Rajjab and Ramzan. Parsis Prepare a different kind of rice kheer for Novroze. Kheer is called Payasam in South India, Kheeri in Orissa, Khir in East India , Kheer is North India, Payesh in Bengal and Payasa in Some south eastern parts of India.

There are different kinds of Kheer like
1. Rice Kheer 2. Phirni 3.Gajrella (Carrot Kheer) 4. Lauki Ki Kheer 5. Zafrani Kheer (Saffron Rice Kheer) 6.Gur ki Kheer (jaggery Kheer) 7. Fruit Kheer.




Ingredients:
Cooked Rice - 1 cup
Whole Milk - 2 cups
Sugar - 3 tbsp or to taste
Raisins - 1 tbsp
Chopped Pistachios - 1 tbsp
Chopped Almonds - 1 tbsp
Powdered Cardamom - 1/8 tsp
Saffron - a pinch.



Method:

1. In a heavy bottomed pan, on medium heat, add in the the Milk and the Rice.
2. Grind the Saffron with a little bit of Sugar and add it to the Milk.
3. Meanwhile, soak the Raisins in a little bit of water to help puff them up.
4. Keep stirring the pan and make sure it does not burn at the bottom.
5. Cook till it is of desired thickness.
6. Once it reaches the desired thickness, add in the Sugar. Mix well.
7. Add in the Dry fruits - Raisins (without the water), Pistachios and the Almonds.
8. Turn off the flame and add in the Powdered Cardamom.
9. Serve hot or cold.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves : 4 persons
Shelflife: 1 day
Serving suggestion: Serve hot or chilled as per choice.



Note:

• If you are making the rice just for the Kheer, over cook the rice just a little.
• This is a great recipe if you don’t have a lot of time but alternatively, you can add in raw rice and cook it in the milk and it tastes great. But be very careful and and keep stirring frequently.
• If you like a smoother texture of rice in the kheer, just mash it lightly before adding it to the Milk.
• If you are cooking in Microwave , then cook it at 850W after mixing milk, rice, cardamom, sugar and saffron in microwave proof dish.Then add some heated ghee and nuts and further cook for 10 minutes.
  

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Mawa Mishri is a traditional and lip-smacking dessert. A speciality from Jaipur, the sweet is easy to prepare. It is in short Reduced Milk with Crystallized Sugar Lumps. It is soft and can be taken by people belonging to any age.

1. Take a pan and grease it with ghee. Pour milk into the pan and boil. When the quantity of milk reduces to half the original, add condensed milk.
2. Stir well to prevent milk from sticking in the pan.
3. Boil until it reduces to quarter the original.
4. Now, add sugar, almonds and cardamom.
5. Cook for another five minutes.
6. Now remove it from fire.
7. Allow it to cool and add crystallized sugar lumps. Mix properly.
8. Refrigerate for an hour.
9. Garnish with silver leaf before serving.

Making Time: 50 minutes+1 hour of refrigeration

Serves: 6 persons

Shelflife: 1 day

Note: Keep stirring the milk while it reduces and also after adding the condensed milk. It avoids the milk from sticking to bottom and also prevents formation of creamy layers of top of milk.

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Basundi is a popular recipe from Gujrat. Baundi is a kheer , sweet dessert which is often prepared during special occassions and festive times. Its a tempting sweet and must try for food lovers.





Ingredients:
1 1/2 litre milk (full fat milk)
Cardamom: 3 pods .
saffron a few strands
1/2 cup almonds
8 - 10 pistachios
3/4 cup sugar
2 tblsp sunflower seeds (chironji).





Method:

1. Soak almonds in warm water to blanch.
2. Take off the skin.
3. Reserve a few for garnishing and make a paste of the rest (make paste of about 2 tbsp)
4. Soak saffron in 2 tea spoons fo hot milk and keep it aside.
5. Chop finely and crush coarsly, the almonds and pistachios.
6. Peel and powder cardamom seend with a mallet.
7. Add it to the chopped dry fruit mix.
8. Make small pieces of saffron in a cup, and dissolve it in milk.
9. Pour milk in a large deep pan, on medium flame and stir ocassionally.
10. When it starts boiling, reduce the heat and continue to boil.
11. Stir frequently, till milk is 2/3 in volume.
12. Add all the dry fruits and cardamom to the boiling milk.
13. Add the paste of dry fruits to the boiling milk.
14. Also add the chironjis.
15. Boil further for 3-4 mins.
16. Turn off the stove and allow it to cool a little.
17. Pour this mixture into a large decorative serving bowl.
18. Allow to cool completely, chill in refridgerator for 4-5 hours.
19. To avoid a layer forming on the surface, stir frequently while cooling.
20. Serve chilled in individual cups and garnish it with some strands of saffron.

Making Time: 1 hour

Serves: 2 persons

Shelflife: 1 day.

Note:

• Basundi id preferred by some in thin consistency and by some in thick consistency. For a thin consistency dont add the nuts paste and for thick consistency, add the nuts paste prepared.
• Basundi has got high calorie amounting to some 1995, so in order to cut down calorie, you can use low calorie sugar available in market.

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