Cooked quinoa has such a delicate soft texture and works wonderfully well in this recipe. Just make sure you wash the quinoa thoroughly to get rid of the bitter saponin coating on the seeds.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup quinoa
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon ghee or butter
- 4 dried dates, pits removed and chopped
- 4 teaspoons golden raisins
- 1 teaspoon pistachios, unshelled and chopped (i used unsalted raw pistachios)
- 1 teaspoon slivered almonds
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
- 3 cups skim milk
- A pinch of saffron (i used spanish saffron)
- 3 tablespoons sugar (add more sugar if you prefer it sweeter)
- 2 teaspoons rose water
- A little extra toasted and chopped pistachios for garnishing
Instructions:
- Rinse the quinoa thoroughly under running cold water until the water turns clear. (I prefer to massage the seeds with my hands while rinsing to make sure that I get rid of the bitter saponin completely). Bring the quinoa and water to a boil on a medium flame, cook until the seeds become translucent. Drain and discard the liquid from the cooked quinoa and keep aside.
- In a thick-bottomed stock pot, melt the ghee or butter on a medium high flame. Add the dates, raisins, pistachios, almonds, and cardamom to the melted ghee and sauté them for a minute.
- Add the cooked quinoa to the nut and fruit mixture in the pot. Fold in the milk, saffron, and sugar. Bring the entire contents of the pot to a boil on a medium flame, then reduce to a simmer and cook till the liquid volume reduces by one-third. Stir frequently to make sure the milk does not burn.
- Cool the kheer to room temperature. Then fold in the rose water and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve chilled and garnish with the extra pistachios.
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