Indian Rice Pudding

Indian rice pudding is easily my favorite rice pudding.  It is far moister, less thick and less sweet than the British, European and Scandanavian rice puddings. All these are dryer and denser than the Indian style which is fine if that is what you want. I like it to be light and moist, wet really and not to rich and not to filling (because then I can eat more of it).  Even after filling yourself to the rafters with a heavy spicy Indian meal you can still enjoy a bowl of this wonderful pudding. 

It is pretty hard to go wrong with almost any Indian rice pudding recipe really though this is the one that I like.  Just use very little rice and sugar.  These are key.  The biggest difference will be how sweet it is and what little additions in the form of spices or nuts or fruit have been added.

Here is a simple recipe that just makes about 2 - 1/2 cups to start you off ..... you can easily double it or triple it. Just be sure to use a wide bottomed pot or it will take much longer to reduce the milk to the right consistency.

Indian Rice Pudding

3 Tbsp basmati rice
3 Tbsp sugar
1 litre whole white milk
1/2 tsp ground green cardamon
2 Tbsp sliced almonds and roughly crushed pistachios (and a bit of colorful dried fruit to if you wish for colour).

In a heavy bottomed pot bring the milk to a boil. Watch it as once it starts to foam up it will overflow the pot in seconds and make a huge mess - so....
bring milk to a boil. Add rice and reduce heat to medium. Stir very frequently until milk is reduced to almost half. It will be thick and creamy (as thick as cream). Add sugar & cardamon and continue to cook a couple minutes until the sugar is completely disolved. Pour it into a bowl and chill in the refridgerator until cool. Garnish with nuts and dry fruit if you wish.