Brown Rice Pudding With Coconut, Ginger and Warm Spices

Brown Basmati Rice, coconut milk and warm spices combine for an irresistible breakfast treat. Creamy, aromatic, and slightly sweet, this rice pudding is perfect comfort food on a cold winter morning. Apparently some people eat rice pudding at room temperature but that isn't for me. I want it served hot. And with the coconut milk and spices happening I want to top this with tropical fruit. Mango, banana, kiwi...maybe throw some blueberries in there. Garnish with something crunchy say coconut chips or almonds? Breakfast heaven. Or let's be honest this could be a dessert...but it's vegan! With fruit! And brown rice!!! So let's call it breakfast. I have read different methods for making rice pudding. Some tell you to start with cooked rice and go from there, others said to cook the rice in water first then add the coconut milk etc. I just threw it all in a pot and went from there. It was easy and it worked perfectly. This recipe is adapted from my Rebar Modern Food cookbook.  

​Recipe: serves 4

​Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown basmati rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 can coconut milk, full fat or lite (I like the full fat)
• 1 cup unsweetened oat milk
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup maple syrup + extra for drizzling 
• 1 cinnamon stick + 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 8 cardamom pods, crushed
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, sliced thin 

Method:

1. ​Combine everything in a heavy bottom pot and bring to a boil. Give it a stir then reduce heat to low and cover.
2.  Cook, covered and on low heat for 60 minutes.
3. Remove lid and turn the heat up to medium to begin reducing liquid to thicken pudding. It took about 15 minutes for mine to reduce to desired pudding like consistency. Keep stirring frequently during this stage.
4. I sprinkled in a bit more cinnamon (about 1/2 tsp) to taste at the end. Remove cinnamon stick, and pick out the cardamom pods and slices of ginger if you wish... but I actually LOVE when I get a bite of either, so I keep it in. 
5. Garnish with any combination of fresh & dried fruits, nuts, & seeds. I was really liking kiwi, banana and coconut chips.