Darina Allen: This is my recipe for the best rice pudding, just like my mother taught me

Return of humble rice pudding is an old school pleasure for a pittance

Challenging times call for familiar comforting foods.

Guess what? Rice pudding is really having a moment. Almost every restaurant I’ve eaten in recently has had rice pudding in some shape or form on the menu — can you imagine that the humble pud of our childhood would be gracing the tables of swanky establishments?

No problem for me: I adore rice pudding, even the simplest version with a blob of softly whipped cream and a sprinkling of soft brown sugar or a spoonful of jam.

Challenging times call for familiar comforting foods, apparently sales of rice pudding and tinned rice are up in all major food chains and recipe searches are up by 233%. Who would have thought that the dreaded milk pudding of our school days is all the rage again?

It’s perfect for these frugal times. If ever there was a pudding that can soothe, this is it. A 500g packet of rice costs approximately €2.45 and even though the price has recently increased, it’s still brilliant value; 100g of rice will yield enough rice pudding for six or eight people. One can make rice pudding from any kind of rice but my favourite by far is short grain or Carolina rice — often referred to as pudding rice or pearl rice. I love the way it soaks and plumps up in the milk to an unctuous creamy texture.

Rice pudding can be dressed up or down and is a vehicle for so many different flavours and accompaniments. I enjoyed different versions at Café Cecilia, Portland and St John Restaurant in London.

Each serves their own riff on the classic pudding. During the summer, Jeremy Lee of Quo Vadis served a refreshing cold rice pud with tea-soaked prunes and custard but now that the weather has turned chillier it’s back to the classic version — what Jeremy refers to as “comfort and joy”.

He adds a good measure of cream, half a vanilla pod and a generous grating of nutmeg. This coconut milk version is also delicious as are these rice pudding pancakes.

Simon Hopkinson, late of Bibendum, is also a rice pudding fan and here too is his recipe.

There are lots of options to try and not a morsel wasted.

My Mum’s delicious rice pudding

recipe by:Darina Allen

A feast for just a couple of cents, which brings childhood memories romping back. We show every group of students how to make this simple pudding and it’s a revelation how simply delicious it is.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 35 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 100g (3 1⁄2oz) pearl rice (short-grain rice)

• 50g (2oz) caster sugar

• 15g (1/2oz) butter

• 1. 2 litres (2 pints) whole milk

• 1 x 1. 2 litre (2 pint) pie dish, mine is Pyrex from a charity shop

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170˚C/325˚F/Gas Mark 3.

2. Put the rice, sugar and butter into a pie dish. Bring the milk to the boil and pour evenly over the rice. Bake for 1 – 1 1⁄2 hours. The skin will be golden, the rice underneath should be cooked through and have soaked up the milk, but still be soft and creamy. Time it, so that it’s ready just in time for pudding.

3. If it has to wait in the oven for ages, it will be dry and dull and you’ll wonder why you bothered. Serve with softly whipped cream and a good sprinkling of soft brown sugar.

Simon Hopkinson’s rice pudding

recipe by:Darina Allen

Simon Hopkinson cooks the kind of food I love to eat – this recipe is taken from the BBC Food Recipes but look out for his cookbook ‘Roast Chicken and Other Stories’.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 45 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 40g (1 1/2oz) butter

• 100g (3 1/2oz) rice pudding

• 75g (3oz) caster sugar

• 1 litre (1 3/4 pints) whole milk

• 150ml (5fl oz) cream

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla pod, split lengthways

• Pinch salt

• Plenty of freshly grated nutmeg

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C/285°F/Gas Mark 1.

2. Melt the butter in a heavy-based casserole dish over a medium heat. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains. Add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Continue stirring until the rice swells and becomes sticky with sugar.

3. Pour in the milk and keep stirring until no lumps remain. Add the cream and vanilla and bring the mixture to a simmer. Once this is reached, give the mixture a final stir and grate at least a third of a nutmeg over the surface. Bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours and cover if the surfaces browns too quickly.

4. Once there is a thin, tarpaulin-like skin on the surface, and the pudding only just wobbles in the centre, it is ready.

5. Serve at room temperature.

Indian rice pudding

recipe by:Darina Allen

This delicious rice pudding, a speciality of Rajasthan, is spiced with cardamom, it’s got lots of plump sultanas and chopped nuts and saffron has an almost soup like texture.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 16 mins

Total Time

 16 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

• 50g (2oz) Basmati rice, soaked for an hour and drained

• 1 litre (1 3/4 pints) coconut milk

• 500ml (18fl oz) water

• 3 tablespoons ground almonds

• 100g (3 1/2oz) caster sugar

• 50g (2oz) fresh coconut, grated

• 25g (1oz) raisins or sultanas

• 50g (2oz) pistachio nuts cut into slivers

• 50g (2oz) blanched almonds, cut into slivers

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground green cardamom seeds

• 2 teaspoons kewra essence – keeps indefinitely or use rosewater instead but be careful – add 1/2 teaspoon first and then taste.

• To Serve

• chopped pistachios

• rose petals

•  

Method

1. Heat the coconut oil in a pan. Add the soaked rice, stir for 2 or 3 minutes then add the coconut milk and water and cook over a low heat for an hour until the rice absorbs the liquid and the pudding thickens.

2. Stir in the ground almonds, sugar, coconut, raisins or sultanas, pistachios and almond slivers. Cook for a final couple of minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the ground cardamom and kewra or rosewater. Cool and chill. Sprinkle with some chopped pistachios and rose petals if available

3. Serve in individual dishes.

Hot Tips

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Caviston’s Food Emporium - Co Dublin

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• For more information, see cookingisfun.ie

Valentia Island Vermouth

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• For more information and list of stockists, see valentiaislandvermouth.com