Development of Ready-to-Cook InstantKheerMix

Abstract

Kheer, also known as Payasam is one of the most famous and authentic milk based dessert in India. Kheer is prepared by the partial dehydration of whole milk usually with sugar and rice and is prepared only on auspicious and special days because of its lengthy and tedious method of preparation. For preparation of 1 kg Kheer mix required ingredients were maida (1400g), refined oil (90 ml or 6 tbs) and water (350 ml). The instant Kheer mix was prepared by adding 6 tbs of refined oil to 1400g of refined flour (maida) and mixed properly followed by adding of 350 ml of cold water to make the dough manually. The prepared dough was shaped manually into approximately 0.8 cm long and 0.2 cm thick structures, sun dried for 2-3d by spreading in a thin layer over a cloth and covering with a transparent plastic sheet. The mix prepared were packed in airtight polypropylene bags and stored as ready-to-use Kheer mix. Study revealed that the innovative technologies include the preparation of base material from refined flour and oil and is preservative free and does not require soaking for long time. It was observed that 70 per cent of the members liked extremely, 25 per cent of the members liked very much and 5 per cent of the members liked moderately.