I plan to add some quick and easy sweets for the upcoming festive season. The paneer kheer is one such recipe that can be made in a jiffy and will be done in less than 25 minutes. All you need is paneer and milk along with some nuts. While making any paneer based dish, I suggest using fresh homemade paneer. You can make the paneer a day ahead and refrigerate it. This paneer kheer has been flavored with cardamom powder, saffron and rose water. Cardamom powder is a must. Rose water gives a beautiful rosy fragrance to the kheer. Good to add it, but skip if you don’t have. Saffron strands can be easily skipped if you don’t have these. You can also add your choice of dry fruits and nuts. Always use fresh whole milk while making this kheer. The recipe tastes somewhat like Rasmalai with soft succulent crumbled paneer in flavored and sweetened milk. Two more paneer based sweets on the blog are Paneer barfi and Gulab jamun. You can serve paneer kheer hot, warm or chilled. We prefer the kheer to be chilled.
How to make Paneer Kheer
- Take 3 cups whole milk in a wide bottomed pan or saucepan or kadai and keep it on the stovetop on a low to medium heat. Ensure that the pan is thick bottomed or heavy so that the milk does not burn while boiling.
- Allow the milk to come to a gentle boil. You can stir a few times when the milk is getting heated.
- Once the milk comes to a gentle boil, then lower the heat and simmer the milk till it thickens a bit. About 5 to 6 minutes. Keep stirring the milk at intervals when it is simmering. Then add 5 to 6 tablespoons of sugar or according to taste. Stir to mix the sugar with the milk and continue to cook further for 5 minutes.
- Then add the following ingredients and mix well. Simmer for 1 or 2 minutes.
12 to 15 almonds, chopped or slivered 12 to 15 pistachios, chopped or slivered 12 to 15 cashews, chopped ½ teaspoon cardamom powder or 3 to 4 green cardamoms crushed to a fine powder in a mortar-pestle 5 to 6 saffron strands
Make sure to use plain nuts and not salted. If you prefer you can also blanch these nuts before adding them to the kheer. You can also add your choice of nuts that are available in your kitchen. If you plan to add golden raisins then add them once the kheer is cooked. 5. Add crumbled paneer. You can also grate the paneer and add it. Since I was using fresh paneer, I crumbled it. If adding refrigerated or frozen paneer, then you can grate it. For frozen paneer follow the instructions mentioned on the pack for thawing it. If the paneer appears dry, then just soak in warm water and then crumble or grate. Make sure the paneer is fresh and preferably homemade as it is the star ingredient in this recipe. 6. Simmer for 1 minute on a low heat till the crumbled paneer gets cooked. Switch off the heat. Remember not to cook the paneer for more than 1 to 2 minutes as then it can become chewy or dense and won’t be soft. Then add 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of rose water. Stir and mix. If you don’t have rose water then you can add one drop of rose essence or skip the rose flavors entirely. 7. Serve paneer kheer hot, warm or chilled. It can be had plain and they also taste good with pooris. While serving you can garnish the kheer with a few saffron strands or chopped nuts. I suggest not to reheat the paneer kheer after refrigerating as the paneer can become chewy and dense. Few more kheer recipes for you!
Rice kheer Badam kheer Rice payasam Sheer khurma Semiya payasam
Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. This Paneer Kheer post from the blog archives first published in September 2014 has been republished and updated on 19 January 2022.
