Kheer/ja

Kheer/ja

Kheer, khir or payasam is a pudding or porridge (specifically rice pudding) 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).

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. Kheer is also the archaic name for sweet rice pudding. 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).

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.

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.

Gallery

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  Kheer topped with dried fruits and nuts
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  Kheer
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  Paal payasam
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  Kheer with vermicelli (called seviyan kheer, semiya payasam or shemai)
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  Vermicelli kheer

See also

• Porridge
• Phirni – a dessert made with ground rice or rice flour cooked in milk and eaten chilled
• Shir Berenj – Persian rice pudding
• Doodhpak – Gujarati rice pudding
• Shemai – Bengali vermicelli pudding
• Sheer khurma – Persian vermicelli pudding