Iranian Rice Pudding

Vegetarian, Dairy, can be Vegan Serves 6-8

This is a lovely dish which can be served hot but is equally good cold with orange segments. You either love or hate rice pudding and this is a very grown up version even more so if you add the liqueur to it which is my modern twist. If you need to cut down on calories then you can use half fat milk instead of the milk and cream but it is not the rich luscious pudding I dream of. If you are vegan you can use vegetarian margarine and coconut milk but remember the flavour will change - use more an extra orange to cut through this.

300g (12oz) pudding or risotto rice
Small knob of butter
450ml (15fl oz) cream
450ml (15fl oz) full fat milk
Seeds for 8 cardamom pods
10 dried apricots
Zest and juice of an orange
50g (2oz) sultanas
2.2cms (1 inch) fresh ginger
150g (6oz) sugar - I like the golden castor sugar if possible
100ml (3.5 fl oz) orange liqueur (optional)
Small handful of pistachio nuts (or almonds)

Toast the pistachio nuts and put to one side.

Chop the ginger and apricots into small pieces.

In a heavy bottom saucepan melt the butter and quickly toss in the rice to coat. Add the milk, cream, together with the apricots, sultanas, and cardamom pods, bring this mixture to the boil gently ie over a medium heat, stirring every minute or so to prevent sticking, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add the ginger, orange zest and juice and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the rice has absorbed the liquid and still has a very slight bite. Stir in the sugar

Pour this into a heat proof serving dish. Pour over the liqueur if using and scatter the toasted nuts on the top.

Rice Pudding - Iranian Style