Ingredients:

• 1 cup – Badam (almonds) (about 35-40 whole almonds)
• 1/2 cup – Pista (Pistachios) (about 15-20)
• 1/4 cup – Kaju (cashews), diced into small pieces
• 1 tbsp – elaichi (cardamom)
• 1/2 tsp – Saffron
• 4 cups – whole Milk
• 1.5 cups – Sugar
• 1.5 tbsp – Ghee

Method:

1. Boil 2 cups of water and soak the almonds in it for 45 mins.
2. Wash half of the pistachios and keep aside. Clean the rest of the pistachios and the cashews and keep aside.
3. Soak and dissolve the saffron in 1/4 cup of hot water.
4. Peel the almond skins and discard the skins.
5. Blend the almonds and the washed pistachios with 1 cup of water in the blender (mixie) and make it into a fine paste.
6. Boil this paste to get rid of the raw smell. When it boils, remove it from the stove, keep aside.
7. Boil the milk in a kadai or heavy-bottom container and simmer it for about 15-20 mins. Keep stirring frequently to avoid the milk getting burnt.
8. When the milk is well-boiled, add the badam-pista paste to it and mix well. Cook for 5-6 mins so that the flavour blends well with the milk.
9. Add sugar to this mixture and mix well. Let it cook for another 5 minutes and remove from stove.
10. Roast the cardamom in 1/2 tsp of ghee and powder it in the blender. Ghee-roasted cardamom enhances the aroma of the food.
11. Roast the rest of the pistachios and cashews (both finely diced) in 1 tbsp. of ghee and keep aside.
12. Mix cardamom powder, roasted nuts and the saffron liquid to the Kheer.
13. Chill this in the refrigerator and serve in tall glasses.

Recipe courtesy of Sridharan