brown rice pudding

I've always really liked rice pudding and the South Asian version, 'kheer' but I've always found it a little too sweet to take more than one serving. I decided to search online for a less sugary alternative and came up with a few versions, but unfortunately they didn't turn out very well so I had a go at making my own recipe. The process itself is super easy, but it does take a slightly long time, so I'd keep about five hours to cook this in total. This type of recipe might not be to everyone's taste, but it didn't sit in the pot for too long in my house!

SERVES 8 - 10

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup washed brown rice (I used brown basmati rice for my version)
1 litre unsweetened soya milk
1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup for a more toffee-like flavour)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sultanas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cardamom extract (optional)

METHOD

Start by soaking the rice for about 2 hours to soften them. Then, once they have been soaked, drain the water and pour into a large saucepan. Add half of the milk, honey, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla extract, and salt and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally to ensure the pudding does not stick to the bottom of the pan. When the mixture becomes thick and the liquid has lessened add the remaining milk.

After one hour add the sultanas and simmer for a further one hour, add one or two gl asses of boiled water as the mixture will start to become very thick. The rice will take approx two hours to cook. If you want the pudding to be really creamy, continue to cook for another hour with the lid on top, and again, add some more water - don't worry at any stage about the amount of water you have added, the beauty of cooking pudding with brown rice is that it will soon become thick again!

Can be served warm or cold.

* Brown rice is a good source of fibre and manganese