Coconut Rice Pudding
Short-grain rice simmered low and slow in coconut milk with cardamom and a stick of cinnamon until thick, creamy and lightly spiced.
About this dish
In Sri Lanka, rice cooked in coconut milk is an everyday staple — kiri bath, the savory version, opens most mornings and every new year. This sweet cousin takes the same base and lets it run long with sugar and spice until it sets closer to a pudding than a side, the kind of dessert that shows up at home after a big meal rather than in a restaurant.
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Lactose-free
Ingredients
- 150gShort-grain rice
- 800mlFull-fat coconut milk
- 4piecesGreen cardamom pods
- 1pieceGround cinnamon
- 90gCaster sugar
Instructions
Rinse the rice until the water runs mostly clear, then put it in a heavy pot with half the coconut milk.
2 minTip: Rinsing washes off loose surface starch so the pudding thickens from the rice cooking down, not from a slick of starch water.
Add the rest of the coconut milk, the cardamom pods and the cinnamon stick, and simmer gently, stirring often, for 20 minutes.
20 minTip: A gentle simmer and frequent stirring keep the coconut milk from catching on the bottom of the pot — it scorches fast once the rice starts thickening it.
Stir in the sugar and keep cooking, uncovered, for another 10 minutes until the rice is fully soft and the pudding coats the back of a spoon.
10 minTip: Adding the sugar after the rice has mostly cooked keeps the grains tender — sugar in too early can toughen the starch and slow the cook.
Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods, and let the pudding stand a few minutes before serving warm or chilled.
3 minTip: It thickens further as it cools, so pull it off the heat slightly looser than you want the final texture.