Quinoa-Rice Payasam with Cashews,Pistachios & Saffron

Payasam/Kheer is a very vital traditional Indian dessert. This dish is a must for various festive celebrations and feasts. I love to cook different Kheers with some twists and variations. Today I made Rice Payasam and enriched it with Quinoa. It blends well with rice and brings more balanced texture to Kheer, generous quantity of cashews,Pistachios and bold aroma of cardamom and saffron made this Kheer more tempting and delicious.

Ingredients :-

• 1 Cup Basmati rice
• 4 Tb.spoon Quinoa
• 1 1/2 Cup sugar
• 10-12 Cardamom - finely powdered
• 2 whole cardamom.
• Saffron - 3 pinches
• 2 Tb.spoon Ghee
• 20-25 Cashews - roughly chopped + Few whole for garnish.
• 1/4 Cup Pista - roughly chopped
• 5 Tb.spoon condensed milk
• 3 Cups water
• 6 Cups milk (2% Fat)

Method of making Payasam/Kheer :-

1. Rinse rice and quinoa separately until water runs clear. Keep it aside.
2. Heat 1 tbspoon ghee in small pan and shallow fry cashew nuts - just until they turn light golden brown. Place them on paper towel.
3. Place minimum 4 quart size thick bottomed pot on stove and heat 3 cups water. Drop two whole cardamoms and pinch of saffron in water. Once the water starts to boil add rinsed Basmati rice. Let it cook for 7-8 minutes on medium heat. Occasionally stir.
4. Now add rinsed quinoa and simmer it on low heat until all water gets almost absorbed - 6-7 minutes.
5. Pour 6 cups of milk. Stir and cook it on medium low heat. Frequently stir until milk starts to boil.
6. Add powdered cardamom , 5 tbspoon condensed milk and one more pinch of saffron, cashews, pistachios, sugar. Simmer on low heat so that milk gets nicely soaked by rice and quinoa - for about 8-10 minutes.
7. Finally pour 1 tspoon melted ghee .Take immersion blender and give quick swirl for 15 seconds. This will bring thick-rich texture to the Kheer. Garnish each bowl of Kheer with additional nuts , few strands of saffron and serve Hot or Cold.

Note :-
Quantity mentioned in this recipe is good for 15-20 peoples crowd, for smaller crowd you may reduce proportions.
You can use more condensed milk and accordingly reduce the quantity of sugar.