TRADITIONAL RICE PUDDING.

A traditional and original dessert of the Middle East — and one of my personal favorites. You’ll want nothing more than a bowl of this creamy and thick Traditional Rice Pudding for dessert! Get your spoon ready, because you will want to dive right in!
Prep: 5 m • Cook: 1 h • Cool: 1 h • Refrigerate: 2 h • Servings: 6

INGREDIENTS.

  • 5-6 cups 2% or whole milk
  • 1 cup rice, soaked in hot water
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp corn starch
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS.

  1. Rinse the 1 cup rice until it runs clear, then soak in a bowl with hot water. The water should be about an inch above the rice.
  2. In a small pot, bring the milk to a slight boil on medium-high heat while stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Do not walk away for more than a few minutes, otherwise it’ll boil over or the bottom of the pot will burn!
  3. Stir in 1 cup of sugar, 1 tsp salt, and a dash of cinnamon and boil for another 5 minutes. Here, you can taste test the milk to see if you’d prefer more sugar or cinnamon. Then, slowly stir in all of the rice. Continue to let it slightly boil on medium heat for about 40 minutes while stirring occasionally (every 3-5 minutes) — you don’t want it to burn! And it can burn quickly.
  4. After about 40 minutes or so, taste a spoon of both the milk and rice. If the rice is nice and soft, perfect. If it’s still a little hard, then continue having it cook for a few more minutes. You don’t want the rice too soft or too hard! You need it just right.
  5. In a small cup, mix a 1/4 cup of warm water with 1 tbsp of corn starch really well. This is what will help the rice pudding thicken! Pour the corn starch water into the pot as you slowly stir. Let it boil on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes while stirring occasionally.
  6. Once the rice pudding has the perfect consistency, turn off the heat and mix in 1 tsp vanilla extract. Click here to watch a video of how the consistency should look like when done.
  7. Then, immediately pour into small serving bowls and allow to cool on the counter for about an hour, then refrigerate for at least two hours!
  8. When ready to serve, top rice pudding with a dash of cinnamon and walnuts! You’ll absolutely love it.

ENJOY!