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Rau di kheer

AI-drafted · awaiting admin review

Rice slow-cooked in fresh sugarcane juice instead of milk, a seasonal dish of the Lohri and Maghi festivals.

Region: PunjabOccasion: Lohri night and Maghi (mid-January)Time: 1½ hoursServes: 6Vegan

Ingredients

  • 2 litres fresh sugarcane juice (rau)
  • ½ cup short-grain rice, washed and soaked 30 minutes
  • 1 tsp ground fennel or cardamom (optional)
  • 2 tbsp chopped almonds or raisins (optional)

Method

  1. Strain the fresh sugarcane juice through a fine cloth into a heavy pot.
  2. Bring it to a boil and skim off the scum that rises to the top.
  3. Add the drained rice and cook on low heat, stirring often, for about an hour until the rice is very soft and the kheer is thick.
  4. Add fennel or cardamom and nuts in the last few minutes.
  5. Serve warm, or as is the custom, cook it on Lohri night and eat it cold the next morning on Maghi.

History

Sugarcane is harvested in Punjab in winter, when fresh juice is plentiful in villages. Cooking kheer in it is an old village custom.

Significance

A Punjabi saying describes rau di kheer as cooked in the month of Poh and eaten in Magh, because it is made on Lohri night and eaten on Maghi.

Sources