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Kheer in a crockpot

BettyK

By BettyK
in India: Cooking & Baking

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chromedome

chromedome

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Many cultures have a tradition of placing foods in the communal oven, once the bread is finished, to cook all day as the oven slowly cools. In other areas, earthenware pots are buried in the coals of the day's fire to provide the following day's meal (or the coals of the morning's fire, for the evening meal).

The crock pot is a modernized take on that concept. It consists of a heavy earthenware pot set into a thermostatically-controlled shell. Older models typically offered only "low" and "high" settings, but newer ones have additional features like a "keep warm" setting.

Crock pots/slow cookers can be terribly convenient: load it up in the morning, and supper's ready when you get home. They are also suitable for braising tougher cuts, since most meats will be fork-tender after 3-4 hours. The longest I've ever had to let anything go to tenderize was 10 hours, in the case of some wild Canada Goose that I was given by an acquaintance.

They are also quite energy-efficient, compared to stovetop cooking.

Having said that, I don't use mine a whole lot...but I surely do appreciate having it in time of need.

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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skchai

skchai

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Doesn't the taste of kheer depend on the reduction of the milk? Slow cookers / crockpots are designed to keep food at a temperature below boiling, so there'll be no reduction. One might try to first reduce the milk with sugar on a stovetop (or - horrors - used canned evaporated milk), then transfer the rabrhi and rice to a slow cooker. Since the slow cooker is presumably unlikely to scorch the milk, this might reduce the amount of stirring required. . .? But it would probably make the pudding more gluey rather than creamy . . .

Sun-Ki Chai
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mongo_jones

mongo_jones

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One might try to first reduce the milk with sugar on a stovetop (or - horrors - used canned evaporated milk), then transfer the rabrhi and rice to a slow cooker.

skchai, you'd be surprised how many home-cooks in india use condensed milk to make quite delicious kheer, gajar halwa and the like...

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jschyun

jschyun

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In Lora Brody's "Slow Cooker Cooking" she has a recipe for rice pudding. I imagine you can look at it and compare to a regular rice pudding recipe and make adjustments in your original kheer recipe.

I trust Lora Brody because she wrote one of my favorite cookbooks "The Chocolate Diet".

I love cold Dinty Moore beef stew. It is like dog food! And I am like a dog.

--NeroW

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jw46

jw46

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Slow cookers / crockpots are designed to keep food at a temperature below boiling, so there'll be no reduction. 

I don't know about crockpots in general, but ours, on high, gives you a slow simmer...perfect for reduction without scorching...Hates standing over a pot just to stir...

Wifey's and my work schedules don't exactly mesh, the slow cooker is ideal for soups and stews...She puts it in on low, when she leaves for work @ 2, it is ready to eat when she gets home @ 7...I get home @ 5, turn it off, if necessary, to be reheated just before serving, make the side dishes and we dine when she gets home....Works for us, anyway...

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BettyK

BettyK

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i have a crockpot i've never used. i'll be glad to hear of any indian recipes i might be able to make with it. lemme have it.

Same here. However, I just discovered how useful it is for lentils. I tried cooking lentils in the pressure cooker like my mother does but each time it's a big mess all over the stove. I make lentils in the crockpot and I don't have to worry about any mess and it's cooked to perfection. First you have to bring it to a boil on the stove then dump it in the crockpot and let it simmer (I set it on 'high' for 3-4hours?). I'm sure any kind of dhal should work but cooking time may vary. Experiment. :biggrin:

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mongo_jones

mongo_jones

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i have a crockpot i've never used. i'll be glad to hear of any indian recipes i might be able to make with it. lemme have it.

Same here. However, I just discovered how useful it is for lentils. I tried cooking lentils in the pressure cooker like my mother does but each time it's a big mess all over the stove. I make lentils in the crockpot and I don't have to worry about any mess and it's cooked to perfection. First you have to bring it to a boil on the stove then dump it in the crockpot and let it simmer (I set it on 'high' for 3-4hours?). I'm sure any kind of dhal should work but cooking time may vary. Experiment. :biggrin:

dal in a crockpot? doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

what dal are you having mess related issues with? let me guess--you're cooking mushoor dal in the pressure cooker? much easier on the stove-top.

crockpot recipes i'd like would be for things like khichdi, red meat curries etc., rajma and so on.

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Rushina

Rushina

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In Pahari cooking there is a vessal called a "Bhaddu" a really heavy brass pot. Daal left to simmer in it for hours is suposed to be really good. Also meat.

A friend of mine does urad daal in her rice cooker. She puts it in in the morning and leaves it till evening. It also is suppoed to be really amazing.

Rushina

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BettyK

BettyK

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dal in a crockpot? doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Why doesn't it make sense to you? Don't you simmer your dal? :rolleyes:

what dal are you having mess related issues with? let me guess--you're cooking mushoor dal in the pressure cooker? much easier on the stove-top.

Good guess. But it's easier in the crockpot. Trust me :biggrin:

crockpot recipes i'd like would be for things like khichdi, red meat curries etc., rajma and so on.

You can use any recipe you have and just do the braising/simmering part in the crockpot. Does that makes sense?

OK, back to kheer now :laugh:

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mongo_jones

mongo_jones

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what dal are you having mess related issues with? let me guess--you're cooking mushoor dal in the pressure cooker? much easier on the stove-top.

Good guess. But it's easier in the crockpot. Trust me :biggrin:

perfect mushoor dal with no mess takes 30-35 fuss-free minutes on the stove-top--why would i want to take 6-7 hours instead in a slow-cooker? it seems to make more sense to make things that usually take a lot of time and attention that way. then again i've never cooked with a slow cooker.

edit to add: i can see making urad and channa dal in a slow-cooker--maybe i'll even try it someday--but dals in general are so easy to cook, in a pressure cooker or on the stove. mushoor dal needs to be washed thoroughly and boiled with not too much turmeric and with a tiny bit of oil to prevent it from spilling over when it comes to a boil--if that doesn't work all you need to do is just keep an eye on it at the moment when it begins to rise, remove from the heat, stir, lower the heat and put it back on--from that point on it will behave itself. or just use a pot high enough so that the dal doesn't spill over the top.

i guess i'm approaching this from the perspective of time--maybe i should consider it from the perspective of flavor? do things cooked in a crockpot taste qualitatively different?

Edited by mongo_jones (log)
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BettyK

BettyK

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Different strokes for different folks. I'd rather use these 30-35 mins (or more) for something else. Why stand in front of the stove when I could be sitting here reading EG, hey? :laugh: By the way, it doesn't take 6-7 hours to cook the lentils...more like 3-4 hours on 'high'. Anyway, it doesn't really matter how long it takes as you don't have to attend to it. That's the whole point.

Anyway, you should try using your crockpot then you will understand what it's all about. See, now I'm a firm believer and I might even splurge on a bigger crockpot soon. :wub::raz:

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