Black rice, sometimes sold as Thai black sticky rice, is available in many of the Asian shops in the city, as well as some health food shops. Its blackish appearance changes to purple when cooked; its wholegrain characteristic contributes a lovely nutty quality, and the coconut milk gives it a deliciously unusual flavour. Like regular rice pudding, it needs to be cooked until the grains have softened to a creamy consistency.

Once it is cooked you can sweeten it to your liking with sugar or syrup. Serve it warm or chilled as a dessert or for breakfast, garnished with toasted coconut or almond flakes. It is also very good paired with fresh mango slices, which cut through the richness of the rice.

If you haven’t used it before, tinned coconut milk needs to be shaken vigorously before opening, as the contents often separate during storage. (And I always look at the label and choose a product with a high percentage of coconut; for example the Aroy-D brand has 70% coconut extract).

Soaking the rice overnight isn’t essential but it does shorten the cooking time. Once cooled, the pudding will keep in the fridge in a covered container for several days.

Ingredients

• 125g black rice, soaked overnight in water
• 600ml whole dairy or plant based milk
• 400ml coconut milk (one can)
• Pinch of salt
• Sugar/ honey/ maple syrup to taste (add at the end)
• 1 – 2 tbsp toasted coconut flakes or flaked almonds to garnish

Method:

If you want to toast the flaked nuts, spread them on an oven tray and place in a preheated oven (160⁰C) for about 8 minutes, checking regularly, as the they turn from golden brown to scorched very quickly.

Drain the soaked rice and put it into a (preferably non-stick) saucepan with both the milks.

Bring up to the boil, then turn heat right down and simmer for about 30 – 45 minutes, stirring frequently. The rice will slowly swell and thicken as it absorbs the milk. If necessary, simmer a little longer/add more milk till you have the desired consistency. Once ready, add salt, sugar, honey, maple or date syrup to your taste.

Serve hot, warm or cold, garnished with toasted nuts or mango slices if you like.