Kheer#Regional versions

{{Short description|Sweet pudding dish from Indian subcontinent}}

{{Infobox food

| name = Kheer

| image = Kheer.jpg

| image_size = 300px

| caption = A bowl of kheer

| alternate_name = ksheeram, doodhpak, meetha bhat (sometimes misunderstood as mayasam)

| country = North Asia

| region =

| creator =

| course = Dessert

| served =

| main_ingredient = Rice, milk, sugar, cardamom, jaggery, saffron, pistachios or almonds

| variations = Vermicelli (semiya) kheer, Barley kheer, kaddu ki kheer, paal (milk), payasam, payesh, chhanar payesh (payesh made with chhana or paneer)

| calories = 249

| other =

| type = Pudding

}}

Kheer is a pudding or porridge popular in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by boiling milk, sugar or jaggery, and rice. It can be additionally flavoured with dried fruits, nuts, cardamom and saffron. Instead of rice, it may contain cracked wheat, vermicelli (sevai), sago or tapioca (sabudana).{{Cite web |title=Best rated puddings in the world |url=https://www.tasteatlas.com/best-rated-puddings-in-the-world |access-date= |website=www.tasteatlas.com}}

In Northern India, it is made in various ways. The most popular versions are the ones made with rice and vermicelli (semiya).

Etymology

The word kheer is derived from the Sanskrit word kshira (क्षीर), which means milk or a milk-based dish.{{Cite book |last=Monier-Williams |first=Sir Monier |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FzRDAQAAMAAJ&dq=Kshira+milk&pg=PA268 |title=A Sanskṛit-English Dictionary Etymologically and Philologically Arranged: With Special Reference to Greek, Latin, Gothic, German, Anglo-Saxon, and Other Cognate Indo-European Languages |date=1872 |publisher=Clarendon Press |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Kheer: An Essential Dish {{!}} Civilization of India |url=https://people.smu.edu/hist2390/2020/06/29/kheer-an-essential-dish/ |access-date=2024-09-10 |website=people.smu.edu}} Kheer is also the archaic name for sweet rice pudding.{{Cite web |date=2013-12-20 |title=DS group enters dairy market, with 'ksheer' - Hindustan Times |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/ds-group-enters-dairy-market-with-ksheer/article1-1112050.aspx |access-date=2024-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220090554/http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/ds-group-enters-dairy-market-with-ksheer/article1-1112050.aspx |archive-date=20 December 2013 }}

The word payasam used in South India for kheer originates from the Sanskrit term pāyasa (पायस), which means "milk" or a dish made from milk. This term evolved into various regional languages, including Malayalam (പായസം, pāyasaṁ), Telugu (పాయసం, pāyasaṁ), and Tamil (பாயசம், pāyacam).{{Cite web |title=payasam |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/payasam_n?tl=true#:~:text=Where%20does%20the%20noun%20payasam%20come%20from?&text=The%20earliest%20known%20use%20of,:%20Tamil%20p%C4%81yasam;%20Sanskrit%20p%C4%81yasa. |website=Oxford English Dictionary}}

Origin

It is said to have originated initially in South India thousands of years ago. The story is titled "The Legend of Chessboard" in Kerala, an old sage in the form of Krishna challenged the king of Ambalapuzha (chess enthusiasts) to play chess. To motivate the sage, the king offered anything that the sage would name. The sage modestly asked just for a few grains of rice but under one condition: the king has to put a single grain of rice on the first chess square and double it on every subsequent one.

Lord Krishna (the sage) won the game and the king started placing the grains. As he stacked them, he was shocked to see the number grow exponentially. In the end, the number came up to trillions. Krishna reveals himself and asks the king to provide kheer to every pilgrim who comes to his temple there. The Ambalapuzha Krishna temple still follows this and it is located in Kerala's Alappuzha district.{{Cite web |date=24 June 2020 |title=History of Indian Food |url=http://www.haldiramusa.com/History_Indian_Food.htm |access-date=25 April 2024 |website=Haldiram USA}}

According to the food historian K. T. Achaya, kheer or payasam, 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. Payasam was also a staple Hindu temple food, in particular, and it is served as Prasāda to devotees in temples.{{Cite news |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/a-truly-international-dessert/story-kfaP9BbuLcuyvCr5A03VGL.html|title=A truly international dessert|date=3 October 2009|work=Hindustan Times}}