Tuesday, April 5, 2011

sama ke chawal ki kheer ... vrat ka khana..


Sama ke chawal ki kheer is a popular fasting food as well as an everyday dessert in UP homes. In Uttarakhand it is called as jhangore ki kheer.

This sama ka chawal is also known as Barnyard millet, samyak ke chawal or parsai ke chawal. It is a millet grown in many parts of the country and consumed in many ways too. Sama ki khichdi, sama ki idli, sama ka dhokla etc are made frequently during navratri fasting.

sama ke chawal ki kheer

Sama ke chawal ki kheer is a delicacy of UP. I remember my father used to like it very much and we learned about this grain just for the love of this kheer. Later on when I started experimenting with my food the other recipes were worked upon and all of them were much appreciated. Sama or barnyard millet is quite easy to work with.

We are not fasting the Navratris but I decided to make this kheer just to celebrate in our own way. I miss the joys of fasting the nine days of Navaratri, making all new types of phalahaar food and being excited about it. The enthusiasm and excitement has mellowed down certainly, and the sense of inner harmony, which is so required for a nine day fasting is lacking too, for reasons very obvious.

Hopefully we will again be enjoying our fasting feasts in the coming years. Cooking a few phalahaar recipes and feasting on them once or twice during the fasting season is the way to bring myself closer to that sense of contentment I guess. This kheer made us feel really good when it was needed.

The recipe is very simple, actually easier than the rice kheer we make. Usually I used to make this kheer by cooking the grains directly in milk, but this time I decided to soak the grains for a while and this made the cooking time really shortened. Also, the texture of the kheer was better this way.

sama ke chawal ki kheer

Half a cup of sama ke chawal was soaked in water for an hour. It was then added to a liter of boiling milk. Using full cream milk will be good as the kheer will be creamy and rich that way. Although skimmed milk can also be used with fairly good results. The boiling kheer is cooked on low flame, stirring a couple of times in between. We were having our morning tea, with stretched out news papers all around... when the kheer was cooking and I just stirred it once after mixing the sama ke chawal in the boiling milk. Thick base of the pan and really low flame will be helpful if you are not around in the kitchen all the while. That is the reason I said it is easier than the rice kheer as that needs frequent stirring for longer duration. This sama ki kheer will be ready, creamy and rich within 25-30 minutes of cooking ...


Add sugar to taste, we like very light sugar in this kheer, try less sugar first and add more if you need so. Add some chopped nuts of choice, I added slivered almonds, pistachios and dried rose petals...

sama ke chawal ki kheer

The kheer thickens when cooled down, and tastes great even then. Consistency can be adjusted according to preference.

I call my father whenever I make something he used to like when we were kids, and he was free of sugar restrictions. Otherwise I am not a frequent caller, that is the way I am but certain foods are associated with memories and great conversation starters.This sama ki kheer is one of them.

Edited to add : the pictures have been changed in May 2017, here the sama ki kheer or jhangore ki kheer is featured in Coppre utensils.

9 comments:

  1. droool next time se i guess i will need a specail courier service .. :) all the way to uk to enjoy this dish :)

    Bikram's

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  2. nice way to refresh old memories of Navratris. drool worthy kheer dear

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

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  3. woo looks yummy! i think we call them varya che tandul in marathi...

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  4. Thank R ...for another name for this grain.

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  5. Just made this this morning. Very nice and easy. A good break from rice and wheat.

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    1. So glad that you tried and liked it too. This is one of my favourite kheer.

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