Sama ke chawal ki kheer is usually prepared during fasting days in North India. I remember my mother used to prepare Sama ke chawal ki kheer during Navratri and Sawan ke Somvar fasting days. As I have always had a sweet tooth, I loved this quickly prepared kheer. Even my husband Manish loves this kheer. His grandmother used to prepare this at the occasion of Janmashtmi festival.
The funny part is that since my childhood till a few years back, I always thought that Sama ke chawal is a specific variety of rice itself. But now we all know it is actually part of millets family called as barnyard millet. It is very healthy, gluten free ingredient loaded with fiber and iron, if you want to include it in your diet.
Years back these specific Sama ke chawal were usually available in the grocery stores only before fasting days. Now as different types of millets are trending, these barnyard millets are available all year round in our regular grocery shops and online stores also.
The best part about this millet is that it is cooked very quickly. So no worries about spending a lot of time in the kitchen trying out new dishes.
In different states of India Sama ke chawal is know with different names as Samak chawal, Samo rice, Samai rice, Jungle rice, Shyam/Shyama rice, Jhangora, Bhagar etc… Now we get flour also from this millet, so there are many possibilities to try all different interesting gluten free dishes for your fasting days.
There are a few more recipes for different types of kheer in the blog. If interested, you can go through them also…
Kheer with white rice (chaawal ki kheer)
Ingredients:
Sama ke chawal 1/4 cup
Milk (fat free) 1/2 litre
Sugar 1/3 cup
Cardamom powder, mixed nuts, grated coconut.
Process:
Wash and soak sama ke chawal in water for 15 minutes.
In a pan keep milk for boiling. When milk starts boiling, reduce the heat and drain the water from sama ke chawal and add them into the milk.
Now increase the heat and keep stirring using the spatula till milk and sama ke chawal both start boiling together. Reduce the heat to sim but keep stirring to avoid milk and sama ke chawal sticking at the bottom of the pan. Within 15-20 minutes, sama ke chawal will bloom nicely and will look all mixed up with milk.
Add sugar and keep stirring on sim heat till sugar completely melts down. With the addition of sugar, kheer consistency will be little thinner. Switch off heat. Let the kheer cool down.
Once kheer cools down completely, it might turn thick. If you like thin consistency, add little bit of milk and mix it well.
Transfer Sama ke chawal ki kheer into serving bowl and garnish with mixed nuts, coconut and cardamom powder.
