Khas Khas Ka Doodh is a traditional Punjabi winter drink of white poppy seeds, almonds, and milk. It is a comforting nightcap for cold winters, also known as Khus – khaas.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
- About Khus Khus (Poppy Seeds)
- Punjabi Khas Khas Ka Doodh
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- Serving Suggestion
- Badam Khas Khas Doodh Recipe
About Khus Khus (Poppy Seeds)
The tiny white poppy seeds are called Khus Khus in Hindi.
In Indian Cuisine, white poppy seeds are used as a paste to make rich, creamy, and indulgent Mughlai-style curries. Along with curries, khus khus is also added to the famous Indian drink – Thandai .
These poppy seeds have tons of health benefits along with a nutty taste. They are well known for their comforting, cooling, and calming effects.
Punjabi Khas Khas Ka Doodh
In a Punjabi household, badam khas khas ka doodh (milk) is a winter nightcap.
Khas Khas Ka Doodh is quite tasty, distinctly warm, and earthy, with slight notes of sweetness. It is very similar to badam milk with the addition of poppy seeds.
I add a pinch of turmeric and saffron to the khas khas doodh. In a traditional khas khas doodh recipe, neither turmeric nor saffron is listed.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You need a few handfuls of ingredients to make Punjabi khas khas ka doodh.
- White Poppy Seeds: Use clean, dry khus khus (poppy seeds) and soak them in water before grinding.
- Almond: Soaked, peeled almonds help grind poppy seeds easily and give the milk a thick, rich texture.
- Milk: This recipe can use full-fat, toned, or low-fat milk.
- Green Cardamom: It is for the taste and aroma.
- Sugar: From brown sugar and jaggery powder to white sugar, feel free to pick one according to your preference. Adjust the quantity according to taste.
- Optional Ingredients: Saffron or a pinch of organic turmeric powder
Serving Suggestion
Khas Khas Ka Doodh is served fresh and warm.
I would not recommend storing it in the refrigerator or serving it at room temperature. The medicinal benefits and the warming effect are lost after keeping it in the refrigerator/reheating.
However, you can store the poppy seeds and almond paste for 1 – 2 days in the refrigerator. Please do not leave it at room temperature for more than 1 hour, as it spoils quickly.
More Indian Drink Recipes
- Banana Date Milkshake
- Sugarcane Juice
- Paan Thandai
- Kesar Thandai
- Sattu Sharbat
- Mango Lassi
- Badam Milk
- Basundi
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 Tablespoon white poppy seeds (khus khus)
- ▢ ¼ Cup almonds
- ▢ 1 Tablespoon ghee
- ▢ 2 Cup milk, room temperature
- ▢ 1 Teaspoon cardamom powder or 2 – 3 green cardamoms
- ▢ 2 Tablespoon sugar or to taste
- ▢ ¼ Teaspoon turmeric powder or Saffron (optional)
Instructions
Prep Work
- Soak almonds in hot water for 10 – 15 minutes or room temperature water overnight. Remove the skin and collect skinned almonds in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, soak the khus khus (white poppy seeds) in ¼ Cup of water overnight or 3 – 4 hours.
Make Paste
- Next day, strain the soaked khus khus in a metal strainer. Drain the water.
- In a small jar of the blender, combine khus khus and peeled almonds. Grind to a smooth paste. If required, use 1 – 2 tablespoon of water to grind the paste. Transfer the paste to a bowl.
- This might take a while due to the small quantity of the ingredients. Scrape the paste from the sides of the blender, stir and grind is the trick.
Prepare Khus Khus Ka Doodh
- Heat ghee in a heavy bottom saucepan or kadhai. Add the khus khus paste and saute over low heat.
- Keep cooking the paste till it turns light brown in color and starts leaving the sides of the pan. This might take between 5 – 10 minutes over low heat. During all this time, the paste requires stirring at regular intervals.
- Next, add the milk and cardamom powder. Stir and bring to a boil once over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and allow the milk to simmer uncovered for 10 more minutes to thicken a bit.
- Scrape the sides of the pan to collect the thick cream and add it back to the milk.
- Now add sugar to taste and turmeric/saffron to the khas khas doodh. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust the sweetness accordingly. Turn off the heat.
- Serve Khas Khas Ka Doodh warm.
Recipe Notes:
- Soaking white poppy seeds softens them and makes them easy to grind.
- Use a heavy bottom saucepan to prepare khas khas ka doodh. Else, while frying and simmering the paste might get burnt.
- It is optional to add turmeric or saffron to the milk.
- For a Vegan Khas Khas Doodh , use almond milk instead of regular dairy milk. And use vegan fat to fry the poppy seeds paste.
- I would not suggest reheating, storing, or serving cold khas khas doodh.
Nutrition
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Badam Khas Khas Doodh Recipe
Equipment
- Blender
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon white poppy seeds (khus khus)
- ¼ Cup almonds
- 1 Tablespoon ghee
- 2 Cup milk, room temperature
- 1 Teaspoon cardamom powder or 2 - 3 green cardamoms
- 2 Tablespoon sugar or to taste
- ¼ Teaspoon turmeric powder or Saffron (optional)
Instructions
Prep Work
- Soak almonds in hot water for 10 - 15 minutes or room temperature water overnight. Remove the skin and collect skinned almonds in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, soak the khus khus (white poppy seeds) in ¼ Cup of water overnight or 3 - 4 hours.
Make Paste
- Next day, strain the soaked khus khus in a metal strainer. Drain the water.
- In a small jar of the blender, combine khus khus and peeled almonds. Grind to a smooth paste. If required, use 1 - 2 tablespoon of water to grind the paste. Transfer the paste to a bowl.
- This might take a while due to the small quantity of the ingredients. Scrape the paste from the sides of the blender, stir and grind is the trick.
Prepare Khus Khus Ka Doodh
- Heat ghee in a heavy bottom saucepan or kadhai. Add the khus khus paste and saute over low heat.
- Keep cooking the paste till it turns light brown in color and starts leaving the sides of the pan. This might take between 5 - 10 minutes over low heat. During all this time, the paste requires stirring at regular intervals.
- Next, add the milk and cardamom powder. Stir and bring to a boil once over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and allow the milk to simmer uncovered for 10 more minutes to thicken a bit.
- Scrape the sides of the pan to collect the thick cream and add it back to the milk.
- Now add sugar to taste and turmeric/saffron to the khas khas doodh. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust the sweetness accordingly. Turn off the heat.
- Serve Khas Khas Ka Doodh warm.
Notes
- Soaking white poppy seeds softens them and makes them easy to grind.
- Use a heavy bottom saucepan to prepare khas khas ka doodh. Else, while frying and simmering the paste might get burnt.
- It is optional to add turmeric or saffron to the milk.
- For a Vegan Khas Khas Doodh , use almond milk instead of regular dairy milk. And use vegan fat to fry the poppy seeds paste.
- I would not suggest reheating, storing, or serving cold khas khas doodh.
Nutrition
Chana Saag is a delicious one-pot Indian curry. This vegan main course dish you can easily make in an instant pot. Be sure to watch the video!
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
- What is Chana Saag?
- Ingredients For Curry
- Watch Chana Saag Video
- Serving Suggestion
- Chana Saag Recipe
What is Chana Saag?
As the name suggests, it is a hearty Indian curry with chickpeas (chana) and spinach leaves (saag). Hence the name chana saag.
In India, it is common to cook various legumes, lentils, or beans with green leafy vegetables. I similarly make spinach egg curry , palak khichdi , or chana dal palak for everyday meals.
In the last few years, chana saag has become quite popular among the instant pot community and vegan food lovers. In my upcoming cookbook , you will find a lot of Indian curry recipes with seasonal green leafy vegetables.
Reasons To Try Chana Saag Recipe
- gluten-free
- one pot meal
- high protein
- vegan and vegetarian
- It takes only 30 minutes
- perfect for a family meal
- wholesome and nutritious
Ingredients For Curry
- Chickpeas: You can make it with both dried and canned chickpeas. In fact, with pre-cooked or canned chickpeas, the chana curry takes less than 20 minutes to get ready! I prefer using dried chickpeas (chana) and cooking them from scratch in the masala to make chana saag.
- Greens: My choice of saag for this curry recipe is spinach. You can use dill leaves, kale, fenugreek leaves, etc.
- Tomato Paste: It is a blend of fresh tomatoes, ginger, garlic, dried red chilies, and hot water .
- Spices: Red Chilli Powder, Turmeric Powder, Coriander Powder, Garam Masala , Cumin Seeds, Green Cardamom, Black Cardamom, Bay Leaf
- Coconut Milk: It gives a creamy texture to the curry. Use thick or first pressed coconut milk.
- Other Ingredients: Cooking Oil, Red Onion, Salt, Water
Watch Chana Saag Video
Serving Suggestion
Chana Saag is an Indian main course dish . You can serve it with plain basmati rice or jeera rice . It tastes delicious with chapati, paratha, or naan as well.
You can curate a complete Indian meal by accompanying the chana curry with rice, naan , kachumber salad , and refreshing mint raita .
Store the leftover curry in the refrigerator. It remains fresh for one week. Reheat in a microwave or stovetop before serving.
More Indian Instant Pot Recipes
- Dum Aloo
- Veg Pulao
- Matar Paneer
- Lobia Masala
- Masala Khichdi
- Matar Mushroom
- Mushroom Pulao
Ingredients
Ingredients For Tomato Paste
- ▢ 1 Cup tomato, chopped
- ▢ 1 tablespoon garlic cloves
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
- ▢ 4 Kashmiri red chilies
- ▢ ¼ Cup hot water
Other Ingredients
- ▢ 1 ¼ Cup dried chickpeas (kabuli chana)
- ▢ ⅛ Cup refined oil
- ▢ 4 green cardamom (elaichi)
- ▢ 1 black cardamom (badi elaichi)
- ▢ 1 bay leaf
- ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- ▢ ½ Cup onion, finely chopped
- ▢ 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ▢ 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ▢ 1 ¼ Cup water
- ▢ ¼ Cup coconut milk
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Garam Masala ( see recipe )
- ▢ 2 Cup spinach leaves (palak)
Instructions
- Soak dried chickpeas for 5 – 6 hours in 2 cups of water. Skip this step if you are using canned or pre cooked chickpeas.
- Make a smooth blend or paste of fresh tomato, ginger, garlic, and dried red chilies using hot water. Keep it aside.
- Set the SAUTE mode of the instant pot for 5 minutes.
- Add oil to the inner pot. Once hot, add cardamom, bay leaf, and cumin. Saute for 40 – 50 seconds to release their aroma.
- Add chopped onion, and fry till light golden.
- Add the tomato paste prepared earlier, red chili powder, turmeric, corriander powder, and salt. Saute the masala for 3 – 4 minutes.
- Add soaked chana (chickpeas) and 1 ¼ Cups of water. Stir to combine. Close the lid of the instant pot. PRESSURE COOK for 20 minutes.
- Release the steam manually. Check chickpeas for doneness. Add garam masala, coconut milk, and spinach leaves. Stir to combine. Set the SAUTE Mode for 5 minutes to simmer the curry. Taste and if required, add more salt.
- Serve chana saag with rice.
Recipe Notes:
- If you are using canned or pre-cooked chickpeas, cook chickpeas and spinach together in pressure cook mode for 5 minutes only.
- The chickpeas (chana) take 3 – 4 whistles over low heat in a stovetop pressure cooker.
- This is a mild to medium spicy curry. Adjust the number of spices and chilies according to your taste preference.
- Kashmiri dried chilies are mildly spicy and give bright red color to the dish.
Nutrition
We follow a strict NO SPAM Policy
