Spiced Rosewater, White Chocolate & Strawberry Indian Rice Pudding

(Gulabh Kheer)

(Serves 4)

With Eid just around the corner and strawberries in season, one of the best ways to indulge yourself and celebrate is by blending the gorgeous taste of sweet strawberries, with melted white chocolate, within a fragrantly spiced Indian pudding. This traditional North Indian version of a rice pudding is a scrumptiously tasting and deliciously aromatic dessert that has a meltingly smooth texture and delicately sweet flavour. Often made during special holidays such as Eid-Ul-Fitr, the traditional age-old dessert recipe has been given a new lease of life with the addition of melted white chocolate, to add richness and extra sweetness, as well as strawberries to give the dessert a different dimension and a juicy 'bite'. If you don't wish to use strawberries, then raspberries can act as an excellent substitute and will make the rice pudding even sweeter.

Ingredients:

¾ cup white rice

1 ½ cups single cream

2 cups milk

½ cup sugar

30g white chocolate

8 green cardamom pods

1 Cinnamon Stick (2 inches long)

½ cup fresh strawberries (chopped coarsely)

4 Fresh Strawberries sliced thinly widthways to garnish

2 Teaspoons Rosewater

Method:

1. Thinly slice the four fresh strawberries, which you will use for garnishing, widthways and leave aside.

2. Allow the rice to soak in warm water for 30 minutes. Keep aside after draining.

3. Pour the milk and then the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring the liquid with a wooden spoon now and then.

4. Now add the drained rice and allow the mixture to boil, then reduce the heat to low temperature and leave to cook for 10 minutes.

5. Then gently stir into this, the white chocolate, cardamom and sugar and allow to simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes.

6. Now add the chopped fresh strawberries to the mixture, gently stir this in, and leave to cook for a further 5 minutes on a low heat.

7. To serve, place an ice-cream scoop of the Rice pudding mixture on a side-plate and arrange each sliced fresh strawberry (kept aside for garnishing) on top of the pudding in a flower shape. Serve hot or cold.