Instant Pot Kheer

Make ultra creamy rice kheer in the Instant Pot in less than 40 minutes. Less stirring and perfectly cooked kheer that will be ready with little effort. Also included is a traditional stove top pressure cooker method.

Note: This recipe was originally posted in January 2010 as a stove top pressure cooker recipe but I have updated the post to include the more popular Instant Pot method.

Rice kheer is an Indian dessert made from staple ingredients such as milk, rice and sugar. It's usually flavoured with cardamom or saffron and garnished with nuts.

For Indian kheer, you do not need to grind down the rice. This is more common in Pakistani recipes and is known as phirni. I've made a fusion caramel phirni.

Ingredients notes

Full recipe in the recipe card below

Rice - For kheer, basmati is perfect, but other white rice will work too. English rice pudding recipes use short grain rice such as rice pudding rice or arborio. You could also try the Indian variety gobindbhog rice which is short grain, sticky and aromatic. Note that different rice types and brands all cook at different rates. My preference is to wash the rice before using in the recipe. Some choose not too as it makes the kheer even richer and more creamy.

Milk - For a rich and creamy taste whole milk is must. If using semi-skimmed or skimmed, you may want to add single or double cream or evaporated milk.

Sugar - I use granulated white sugar.

Spices and Nuts - To add Indian flavour to the kheer, I add cardamom. I've only used a little saffron to garnish.  For garnishing, I use a mix of almonds and pistachio. Optionally, you can swirl over some Instant Pot strawberry and rhubarb jam once the kheer has totally cooled down.

Add a flavour variation by making mango kheer - mango pulp added after Kheer is cooked and cooled down totally.

Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method & A note from my Mum, Jagruti

(As written by Jagruti)

Since the stovetop pressure cooker arrived in Indian kitchens with its little recipe books, one dish always stood out. It was kheer. I still remember when my mum bought a 6-litre Hawkins pressure cooker. She made kheer in it that very day and could not praise it enough. From then on, the only way she made kheer was in a pressure cooker.

Naturally, I picked up that method too. You might wonder about the taste or texture, but this pressure-cooker kheer is every bit as delicious as the traditional version. It’s creamy, rich and completely irresistible. And it comes together with minimal effort - no sweating, no stress, and no standing over the stove for hours.

You'll need a 5 litre pressure cooker to make kheer for 4 people. Try not to use a small pressure cooker as there is a chance that the milk mixture will overflow.

Method:

1. Bring milk to a boil in a pressure cooker without closing the lid.
2. Add ghee, sugar and washed rice and stir the mixture till sugar dissolves in the milk.
3. Close the cooker with the lid and bring it up to full pressure, reduced heat to low and cook for 10-12 minutes.
4. Let the pressure cooker cool down naturally.
5. Open the lid and stir the kheer, add cream or evaporated milk and cardamom.
6. Place the cooker once again on a heat and simmer ( without the lid)  the kheer for a couple of minutes more or until it reaches a creamy consistency.
7. Serve hot or cold in a serving bowl, garnish it with slivered pistachio, almonds, saffron threads, edible silver or gold foil and edible rose petals.

Serving Suggestions

Kheer is often made during festive occasions or as a prasad. It can be served and enjoyed at any temperature as a dessert.

In our family we serve kheer with deep fried poori along with aloo matar or aloo chole (chana bateta nu saak) at breakfast.

Gujaratis also served with round and soft Gujarati rotlis at religious ceremonies too.