Kesari Rabri (Saffron Thickened Milk)
A luxurious dessert of milk slowly reduced to a creamy, layered pudding, sweetened and perfumed with saffron and cardamom and scattered with pistachios. Serve chilled.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Heat the milk
Pour the milk into a wide, heavy pan about 26cm/10in across and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, lower the heat so it simmers gently, and do not stir the surface - let a skin of cream () form on top.
- 1.5L full-fat milk
✅ Done when: milk is boiling gently and a thin skin of cream has formed on top
Collect the cream layers
Every few minutes, push the skin of cream to the side of the pan with a spatula and scrape the sides too, keeping the milk at a gentle simmer. Continue for 45-50 minutes, until only about a third of the milk remains and it has thickened.
- continuing to reduce the milk from step 1
✅ Done when: milk has reduced to about a third of its volume and coats a spoon
Sweeten
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Chill and serve
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Heat the milk
Pour the milk into a wide, heavy pan about 26cm/10in across and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, lower the heat so it simmers gently, and do not stir the surface - let a skin of cream () form on top.
- 1.5L full-fat milk
✅ Done when: milk is boiling gently and a thin skin of cream has formed on top
Collect the cream layers
Every few minutes, push the skin of cream to the side of the pan with a spatula and scrape the sides too, keeping the milk at a gentle simmer. Continue for 45-50 minutes, until only about a third of the milk remains and it has thickened.
- continuing to reduce the milk from step 1
✅ Done when: milk has reduced to about a third of its volume and coats a spoon
Sweeten
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Chill and serve
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
The Story Behind the Dish
Rabri is one of the oldest Indian milk sweets, made by patiently reducing milk and collecting the layers of cream that form on top. Varanasi and Mathura, the town associated with Krishna, are especially famous for it.
It's eaten on its own, with hot jalebi, or poured over kulfi and falooda.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Rich, creamy and fragrant with saffron, rabri is the dessert served at weddings and festivals.
💡 Fun Fact
Saffron is the world's most expensive spice by weight — each thread is a hand-picked stigma of the crocus flower.
Uttar Pradesh & Rajasthan
25.32°N, 82.97°E
Related recipes
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!