Idaho® Potato Kheer

Ingredients:

• 1 medium Idaho® potato
• 1½ tablespoon coconut oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon cashews, split in half
• 1 tablespoon dried raisins
• ½ cup jaggery, finely grated (see note)
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup canned coconut milk
• ½ cup almond milk
• 2 green cardamom pods, crushed
• pinch of saffron (optional)
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Peel and grate the potato finely. Rinse in water until the starch runs clear. Squeeze to drain excess water, then press firmly between kitchen towels to dry.
3. Spread grated potato evenly on a small baking tray. Drizzle with ½ tablespoon coconut oil.
4. Bake for 15 minutes on the middle rack or until golden brown and crisp. Let cool.
5. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a small pan. Fry the cashews and raisins until golden brown. Remove from heat. Set aside.
6. Combine the grated jaggery and water in a small saucepan on medium heat. Stir as it comes to a gentle boil, and the sugar dissolves.
7. Strain through a sieve to remove any sediments and return to the saucepan. Let boil for 5 minutes.
8. Add the baked crisp potatoes, coconut milk, almond milk, fried raisins (+ coconut oil it was fried in), crushed cardamom pods and saffron to the boiling jaggery. Let it come back to a gently simmer. Do not let it boil or the coconut milk will separate.
9. Once the kheer is fragrant and the potato softened, add a pinch of salt, remove from heat. Garnish with fried cashews and serve either warm or chilled.

Notes:

Jaggery is an unrefined palm sugar used in Indian cooking. You should find it in any Indian grocery store. Otherwise, substitute with sweetener of choice. If using other sugars, skip the sieving step.