The word ‘kheer’ is as sweet as it tastes and it brings a smile to our faces! Kheer is basically sweetened rice pudding. Kheer happens to be a better alternative to the other mainstream sweets. It is prepared with natural ingredients and is very healthy with fewer calories. It is also a great source of carbohydrates which helps in restoring your glycogen that gets depleted from the muscles after a long day’s work.
The kheer has carved itself a special niche in the world of desserts and is considered an extremely valuable source of nourishment. It is basically a sweetened rice pudding that originated in the Indian subcontinent.
There is a legend associated with kheer and Lord Buddha. Siddhartha, in search of answers and austerity, decided to meditate in the Sena village near the Uruvela region, near the banks of river Niranjana. However, after six long years of intense meditation, he was reduced to skin and bones. On her way home, a beautiful girl called Sujata, the eldest daughter of Nanda, the chief herdsman of the village saw the emaciated Gautama and offered him kheer to provide some nourishment. Buddha was overwhelmed with gratitude and thanked Sujata profusely. After Gautama had his fill, he took a bath in the river and threw the bowl in the river stating if he were to succeed in his endeavours, the bowl should go upstream, or else downstream. The bowl, to everyone’s amazement, went upstream! An infallible prediction which later turned out to be the truth! Siddhartha went on to become the enlightened one.
Kheer is prepared by slow cooking rice in milk with the addition of fragrant ingredients like saffron, cardamom, raisins, nuts and dried fruits. It is sweetened with sugar or jaggery. Sometimes rose or kewra water is sprinkled afterwards. Kheer is also known as meetha bhaat, payasam, payasa.
As you can see it is extremely easy to prepare kheer, loaded with various nutrients and perfect for a healthy diet! Prepare your own version of kheer on the occasion of Buddha Purnima and let us know how it turned out!
