Payasam

Wash and soak the rice using short grain sticky rice like Sona Masuri or Seeraga Samba. Do not use basmati rice as it is brittle and breaks easily.

Use 50g rice for moderate viscosity and 60g for thicker kheer. For phirni, use 50g rice ground into powder after washing, soaking, and drying.

Boil the milk (full cream milk or 70% milk + 30% water) until it is hot and starts to thicken slightly.

Add the soaked rice to the boiling milk and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the rice is almost cooked and the mixture becomes viscous.

Add saffron strands if desired for flavor and color.

Add sugar only after the rice is cooked to avoid halting the rice cooking process. Use sugar double the amount of rice by weight (e.g., 100g sugar for 50g rice).

Cook the kheer for a few more minutes after adding sugar to properly dissolve and cook the sugar, which enhances shelf life and glaze.

Optionally prepare khus kheer by infusing vetiver (khus) roots in water, straining, and adding the essence to the kheer. This cools the body and is good for summer.

For phirni, use the ground soaked and dried rice powder, and follow similar proportions and cooking methods, stirring constantly to achieve a custard-like consistency.

Serve warm or chilled as desired.