Pearl Couscous Kheer

Kheer; a combination of rice, milk and sugar often flavoured with saffron, cardamom and garnished with nuts and raisins. This dessert brings together the most basic ingredients to create a satisfying and luscious dessert. Versions of it are made all over India and not surprisingly all cultures that use rice in their diet have also crafted similar dishes. This recipe was improvised using a new ingredient – pearl couscous, also known as Israeli couscous. The pearl couscous kheer is quicker to make than traditional kheer and tastes just as good.

Pearl couscous or israeli couscous — Pearl Couscous

Human ingenuity, food scarcity and an uncanny resemblance

Actually the pearl couscous kheer looks very similar to a common vrat (fasting) food – sabudana (tapioca pearls) kheer. Hebbar’s Kitchen and Sharmi’s Passion have recipes for sabudana kheer, they also call it sabakki payasam or javvarisi payasam, that are essentially the same as my recipe. While sabudana is appropriate for fasts where cereals aren’t eaten, couscous is not appropriate for Navratri fasts because it is made out of a common cereal – wheat. The little that I gleaned from wikipedia (of course!) is that the pearl couscous or Israeli couscous is a pasta like product of wheat.

Ptitim, pearl or israeli couscous was created during the 1950s when Israel was in the midst of a rice shortage. Invented by the Osem food company at the behest of the first prime minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion, it was also called Gurion Rice and was initially shaped like rice grains. Now sold as dense balls, the Israeli couscous is very similar to Levantine and north African pearled couscous that predate it by many centuries. (source: Wikipedia!)

Total preparation time: 30 to 45 minutes

Inactive: 10 minutes; Active cooking: 30 minutes

Yields 4 helpings, serves 2-3 people

Ingredients:

Pearl couscous – 1/4 cup,
Milk (2% or whole milk) – 1 cup,
Sugar – 4 to 6 Tablespoons,
Saffron strands – 4 to 6,
Cardamom pods – 2 or powder – 1/4 tsp,
A few slivered almonds, pistachios and cashews for garnish (optional).

How to make Pearl Couscous Kheer

The proportions of this recipe are enough for serving two to three people; increase amounts as per your need.

Start with collecting ingredients. Pick out a few strands of saffron and take out cardamom pods. Measure milk, pearl couscous and sugar.

Cardamom can be used in two ways, either by adding whole pods while boiling milk or using powdered cardamom instead. To make your own cardamom powder for this recipe shell two or three pods and collect the seeds. Then grind the seeds in a spice/coffee grinder. Use the shells for flavouring tea. Mix them in the loose leaf tea you use or boil cardamom shells in water before steeping tea in it. Strain before serving.

First step after collecting all the ingredients is to heat milk along with saffron and cardamom in a thick bottomed pan. Bring it to a boil, approximately 7-10 minutes, on medium heat and stir occasionally to avoid it from sticking to the bottom and the formation of a skin on the top. Saffron will lend it a pale yellow color that will deepen with time and the cardamom should become fragrant within minutes.

Making kheer with pearl couscous — Fluffed up and almost done pearl couscous.

Next, add pearl couscous and cook until fluffy and almost double in volume, about 10 minutes. Since it is essentially a dried wheat pasta you will notice that it absorbs moisture quickly. Continue to simmer in milk for another 5 minutes. Add sugar and mix until dissolved. Turn off the heat.

Saffron kheer with pearl couscous — Saffron in the kheer.

The kheer is ready. You could serve it warm right away or cool it to room temperature and then chill in fridge. Garnish with slivered nuts.

It will keep in the refrigerator for upto 3 days, but I doubt you’ll have any left once its served. I made it on a whim one winter evening and we licked our bowls clean!