A few weeks ago, I hosted my first three-course Indian food dinner party!  It was a lot of work for a newbie like me, but it was much appreciated by our non-Indian guests.  To make my life a little easier, I thought about sticking with easy desserts, like fruit.  Then I thought about making kheer, a dessert I have always loved and which is not difficult to make!

Kheer (also known as payasam in South India) is a type of rice pudding.  It is usually flavored with saffron, almonds, pistachios, and/or cardamom.  Kheer has a milkier texture and is not as thick as American rice pudding.  If you ever have last-minute company, I highly recommend preparing kheer as dessert because it does not take a long time to make and is liked by most people.  Our dinner party guests absolutely loved it!

My husband V and I have been quite busy as of late:  we are busy at work, we are planning a few vacations for the summer, and we are looking for a new place to live as our apartment lease is up soon.  In the midst of our daily hustle and bustle, it can be difficult to prepare home-cooked meals.  Whenever I feel that my days are overwhelmingly busy, I turn to my favorite kitchen appliance:  the slow-cooker.

My mom provided me with a recipe for making raajma, a curry made with red kidney beans, which is made on a stove and takes roughly 30 minutes to make.  Not that 30 minutes is a lot of time, but the idea of dumping the ingredients into the slow-cooker and not having to worry about it was much more appealing.  I often use my slow-cooker to make chili, and it turns out amazing because the ingredients have time to blend together and thicken.

Raajma has always been one of my favorite dishes.  It is so comforting, whether you are eating it with bread, rice, quinoa, or by itself.  I have found that many cultures have some variation of "beans and rice" as a comfort food.