PAAN KHEER/ BETEL LEAVES KHEER

I love playing with the flavours of paan (betel leaves) and incorporate them into desserts. My Paan Coconut Ladoo was a big hit on my blog. This time I have it in the form of kheer.
This Paan Kheer is a delicious twist on your regular rice kheer.
I used homegrown paan leaves in this kheer, which made its taste not just sweet but also homely.
If you love the flavours of meetha paan, you should surely try it out.

INGREDIENTS :
1/3 cup basmati rice
1 teaspoon ghee
4-5 whole green cardamom pods
1-litre whole milk
3 large paan leaves use 2 if you want less strong paan flavour
2 tablespoons gulkand rose petal preserve
1/4 cup + 4 tablespoons whole milk
3 tablespoons sugar or to taste
1-2 tablespoons nuts I used chopped cashews & almonds

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. Soak 1/3 cup basmati rice for 20 to 30 minutes in enough water. Then drain the water and set aside.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon ghee in a heavy bottom pan on medium heat. Then add the soaked and drained rice. Saute for a minute or two along with green cardamoms (break them slightly before adding to the pan).
3. Add in 1-litre milk and stir. Let it come to a boil on medium-high heat.
4. In the meanwhile puree, paan leaves along with gulkand and 1/4 cup + 4 tablespoons milk (using a blender). Set it aside.
5. Once the milk comes to a boil, lower the heat and cook the kheer for around 25 minutes, stirring often.
6. If you don’t stir often, the kheer might burn and stick to the bottom of the pan so don’t forget that.
7. It will thicken after 25 minutes, now add the prepared paan puree.
8. Also, add sugar. Since gulkand is sweet, 3 tablespoons of sugar were good for me here. You can add more or less.
9. Stir and simmer the kheer for 7 to 8 more minutes. Also, add the nuts if using and mint essence. Remove pan from heat.
10. Serve the paan kheer chilled. Enjoy!

    NOTES:

• This kheer has a strong paan flavour. To reduce the flavour of paan, you can use 2 paan leaves in place of 3.
• You can also add desiccated coconut and dates to the kheer. If you use dates, further reduce the quantity of sugar in the kheer.
• Do use a heavy bottom pan to make the kheer so that milk doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan as the kheer cooks.