So its my first recipe since going Vegan and naturally it had to be something sweet. I must admit, the thing I miss the most being vegan is dessert. I can live without meat for a while, but its getting increasingly hard to live without things that contain butter and milk.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and this dessert was born out of my pure craving for dessert. I think coconut milk is a must have in a vegan kitchen. Its incredibly rich and luscious, and a natural way to replace cream and milk in dessert. Ofcourse it will lend a coconutty flavour to everything. And it is rich in fat, making it not too healthy, even though it is natural fat.
This pudding is sweet enough to satisfy any craving and yet mild enough to make a snack. This dish is popularly called Kheer in India and every state, every household, has their version of making it. I'm going to jazz up my kheer with some alcohol...as usual! And I'm substituting regular milk with coconut milk, which isn't milk at all, but more like coconut pulp extract.
Serves 4
200ml coconut milk
1 cup Basmati rice
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean or 1tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp of honey or maple syrup
2 pods of cardamom
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp powdered cinnamon
1 lemon's grated zest
A pinch of salt
A fist full of chopped nuts (I've used pistachios and almonds)
2 tbsp alcohol soaked raisins*
* For the raisins: Add a cup full of your favourite tipple in a saucepan and heat on a low flame. I used Limoncello as coconut and lime are a match made in heaven. Add the juice of 1 lemon. Add 2 tablespoon or a fistful of raisins. I used the black variant. Bring to the boil. Boil for 10 mins or until most of the alcohol has been absorbed by the raisins. The raisins will plump up with alcohol and is now ready to use.
In a medium sized pot, add in the water, coconut milk, vanilla extract, sugar, salt and rice. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and then reduce to simmer. The rice will cook in the coconut milk and plump up by absorbing these juices. Keep a check on the rice and add more water or coconut milk if required. Halfway through the cooking process, add in the honey, nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom. Simmer for 30mins or until the rice is fully cooked and absorbed all the liquid. Remove from heat and add in the raisins, nuts and lemon zest. Cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
Serve chilled with a dusting of cinnamon.
