Rice Pudding

Rice pudding the old fashioned way. I’ve had this rice pudding recipe for ever! The creamy texture of the slow cooked calrose rice with the bold flavor of the flower water is the perfect alternative to ice cream for that hot summer day. Why do we use Calrose rice? Because this type of rice is soft and sticky and holds better. Calrose rice for example is the preferred rice used in paella, sushi, risotto and sometimes in rice pilafs.

Skill level: Easy

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Rice Pudding

2014-06-19 13:48:31

Serves 6

Traditional “Armenian” Recipe

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Ingredients

1 cup Calrose Rice
8 cups milk
1 cup granulated sugar
Flower water
Pistachios for garnish

Instructions

Wash the rice two times and drain.
In a saucepan, place the rice and enough water to cover the rice by about 1 inch.
Cook on medium low heat while stirring occasionally until half the water is absorbed. At this point the rice starts to thicken.
Add 4 cups of milk and raise the heat to medium high and at this point you need to start stirring constantly. The milk measurement is very important. If you measure your 1 cup of rice up to the rim of the cup, then that’s how you should measure your milk. If your rice is slightly less that a full cup, then your milk must be measured the same way.
When the milk and rice mixture starts to boil, after about a minute or two, bring the heat down to low and continue to cook stirring occasionally. When the heat is on low, you don’t need to stir constantly, but keep an eye on it anyway. Cook for about 25 to 30 minutes on low heat.
Add 4 more cups of milk ( 8 cups total ) and raise the heat to medium high again, just like when you added the first 4 cups of milk. Cook for 10 minutes stirring constantly.
Lower the heat again to low and cook for another 25 to 30 minutes.
Add I cup granulated sugar and cook for an additional 10 minutes while stirring constantly. You need to be very careful especially now with the sugar added that you stir constantly, because rice puddings are notorious for quickly burning. You’ll notice after the 10 minutes are done that the mixture has become very creamy but still has some liquid to it. That’s okay because once the pudding is refrigerated the mixture will thicken even more.
Turn the heat off, add the flower water and mix thoroughly. Leave it in the saucepan for a little while until it cools off a little, then pour into a serving bowl or individual bowls. Refrigerate, but do not cover at the point since it is still warm.
Check the rice pudding after an hour or so, and if it’s completely cooled, garnish with chopped pistachios, and cover.