Kheer, also known as payasam, is a sweet dish and a type of wet pudding popular in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by boiling milk, sugar or jaggery, and rice, although rice may be substituted with one of the following: daals, bulgur wheat, millet, tapioca, vermicelli, or sweet corn. It is typically flavoured with desiccated coconut, cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashews, pistachios, almonds, or other dry fruits and nuts, and recently pseudograins are also gaining popularity. It is typically served as a dessert. Etymology The word kheer is derived from the Sanskrit word for milk, kshira (क्षीर). Kheer is also the archaic name for sweet rice pudding. Origin Kheer was a part of the ancient Indian diet. According to the food historian K. T. Achaya, kheer or payas, as it is known in southern India, was a popular dish in ancient India. First mentioned in ancient Indian literature, it was a mixture of rice, milk and sugar, a formula that has endured for over two thousand years. Payas was also a staple Hindu temple food, in particular, and it is served as Prasāda to devotees in temples. See also Porridge Khira sagara Shir Berenj or Phirni References Bangladeshi rice dishes Indian rice dishes North Indian cuisine Bihari cuisine Uttar Pradeshi cuisine Indian desserts Nepalese cuisine Bangladeshi desserts Odia cuisine Rice pudding Telangana cuisine Hyderabadi cuisine Punjabi cuisine Fijian desserts Kerala cuisine Tamil cuisine Indian cuisine Pakistani cuisine Sri Lankan cuisine Indo-Caribbean cuisine