Awadhi cuisine has several intriguing tales and legends behind it, which prove why you would perhaps not find something like it anywhere else in the country. It is also believed that the then khansamah (cooks) were secretive about their recipes. Even if they revealed their recipe, they would have concealed some ingredients to avoid duplication. Today, we’ll talk about a mouthwatering dessert from the Awadh kitchen, known as Benami Kheer. Benami means nameless as the chefs never wanted to name it. It was actually made of garlic. You read it right; it is one of the key ingredients in the kheer. This dessert also broke the notion of garlic having a pungent smell. This dish is also called Lehsun Ki Kheer. As the festive season is here, you can try this milk-based dessert, which is mostly prepared with vermicelli and rice.
Ingredients:
1 litre of milk
15 alum powdered
3-4 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon Saffron
3 tablespoons chopped dry fruits
5 crushed or powdered cardamoms
50-75 grams of garlic
How To Make Benami Kheer:
Step 1: Slice the garlic cloves and soak them in water for an hour first.
Step 3: In 600 ml water, add 1/3rd of alum powder and boil the soaked sliced garlic for around 10 mins.
Step 4: Strain it in running water and repeat this method two more times.
Step 5: Soak these cloves in normal-temperature water for 5 minutes and then very lightly scrub them. Then strain and wash them again in running water.
Step 6: In a saucepan, pour the milk and let it heat in low to medium flame. After it is boiled, keep it aside and keep stirring.
Step 7: Add blanched garlic to the warm milk, with crushed cardamom powder and sugar. If you have saffron, then you can add that as well, but it is optional. Let it cook. Then garnish it with chopped dry fruits.
Viola! Your Benami Kheer is ready. You can serve it after lunch or dinner as dessert.
