[Sca-cooks] Hindu Recipe?

[James Prescott]

If you're looking for something typical, and extremely simple,
a sweet, and possibly acceptable to everyone else, how about Indian
rice pudding?

It can be served hot or chilled.  There are many recipes.  Here's
one that uses standard basmati rice, but if necessary you could
adapt it to use a quick-cooking rice (with some loss of texture).

This recipe makes a small quantity (enough for 6-8 small sample-
size serves), but it multiplies easily.  It's quite rich, so
most folks will be satisfied with half a cup or so.


Khir

1 cup rice (basmati if you can manage it)
1 tablespoon ghee [rendered butter] or ordinary butter
4 cups whole milk (you can replace some of the milk with cream if
                    you wish, for an even richer dessert)
4 tablespoons sugar (I personally prefer a bit less sugar)
1 pinch of real saffron, ground very finely in a bit of hot milk
1 teaspoon powdered cardamom (white or green cardamom)
1 tablespoon of rosewater (the standard weak stuff, not the 50-to-1
                            concentrated soap-flavour stuff)
1 tablespoon of blanched almonds chopped medium fine
1 tablespoon of raisins (technically sultanas, but any North American
                          raisin will do)

- Soak rice in water, wash, and drain

- Fry rice gently in the ghee or butter until the grains become
   opaque.

- Add the milk and bring to a boil stirring all the while

- Simmer until the rice is just cooked (a grain crushed between
   the fingers shows no uncooked white residue in the centre)

- Add sugar and the saffron mixture, and continue to simmer until
   it has been reduced to a creamy appearance (continue to stir)

_ Add the cardamom, rosewater, nuts, and sultanas and simmer
   another minute or two

You could reserve some of the cardamom powder and use it to garnish
the top of the dish if you wish; or you could use some crushed
pistachio nuts.


Thorvald


At 23:49 -0500 2006-11-15, CLdyroz at aol.com wrote:

>  All of this long history is working up to this; does anyone know of a dish or
>  a source, where I can find a fairly easy Hindu/Indian dish, that would also
>  work for an ethnically mixed office? Possibly a sweet? (that would go better
>  with this crowd then a curry)