Author Notes: As a child, I grew up loving my grandmother’s rice pudding, which had very simple ingredients her magic rested in hours of slow cooking and thickening the milk until the ingredients came together in a rich and creamy medley. My kids also love Indian rice pudding and since I do not have the time to nurse the rice pudding the whole day, I make this version in a slow cooker which has stood the test of various palates and preferences. To add some depth in flavor, I use a good quality sugar and feel that this makes a lot of difference in taste and stir this a couple of times during the cooking process.
Recipe adapted from Spices and Seasons, Simple, Sustainable Indian Flavors —Rinku Bhattacharya /Spice Chronicles
Serves: 10
Ingredients
-
1/2
gallon half and half
-
3/4
cup short grained rice such as jasmine rice
-
6
green cardamoms, lightly bruised
-
3/4
cup raw turbinado or maple sugar (more to taste)
-
1/2
cup chopped nuts such as pistachios or pecans (optional)
Directions
- Add the half and half, rice and cardamoms and set the slow cooker to a 5 hour high cycle.
- After 2 hours, remove the cover and give the mixture a good stir ensuring that the rice mixes well with the milk and let it cook for another hour and a half.
- Stir the mixture well, at this point the rice should be fair soft and meshing into the milk. Stir in the sugar and let the rice pudding continue cooking until the cycle finishes.
- Stir well, discard the cardamoms if you wish. Let the pudding rest for at least 30 minutes. Garnish with the chopped nuts and serve this hot or cold depending on your preference.