Coconut Kheer is a south Indian vegan dessert. We call it kheer & people in south India traditionally call it Payasam. Primarily prepared during festivals & special occasions, the payasam tastes similar to our regular kheer.


There are certain things I want to tell you about the kheer.

Exciting Facts About Coconut Kheer (Payasam)

First thing, it is a traditional variety of kheer. We use rice. They use coconut in the kheer. Second, you won’t get it at sweet shops. I mean, you can buy coconut laddu but not kheer. That’s not a big deal because I will show you how to make this recipe at home today.

Third, I have used homemade condensed milk instead of sugar or jaggery. Fourth, the cooking process is unique. Regular kheer requires a long process of boiling & cooking. Keeping this in mind, I have made the coconut kheer differently.

If the ingredients are the same, what’s the difference between coconut kheer & regular kheer? Let’s checkout.

Coconut Kheer v/s Regular Kheer

The difference here is the base. Regular kheer has rice & milk base. On the other hand, coconut kheer, aka payasam, has a base of coconut malai & coconut water.

Can you imagine kheer without rice? NO. Try coconut kheer.😁😁 Since we are not using rice, the time to make this kheer reduces drastically. The other aspect is there’s more negligible cooking & more mixing off your gas stove.

ऐसी रेसिपी पकाने में मज़ा आता हे जहाँ उबालना, पकाना, तड़का लगाना कम हो. मज़ेदार बात ये हैं की अपनी नारियल खीर ऐसी ही हैं।

Few Tips:

  • Use full-fat milk and not cow milk. For thick & creamy consistency, full-fat milk is what we need.
  • You can switch cardamom with nutmeg (javitri/jaifal) for fragrance. Nutmeg is vital; hence use it carefully, or it will spoil the taste.
  • Use fresh malai. Take out malai from coconut only when you are about to use it. Please don’t take out the malai beforehand & store it. The problem is it won’t remain soft. Moreover, don’t use desiccated coconut because that’s a different item.
  • You can use malai instead of heavy cream. It is up to you.
  • Do not use jaggery for sweetening. Jaggery will change the colour of your kheer. For example, it will turn brown from white. Either you can use homemade condensed milk or a readymade one.
  • Almond, cashew, pistachio, and red raisins are our dry fruits that will be good here. However, you can add other dry fruits as per your taste.