Name: Rice Pudding and Mango Parfait
Prep time: 1 h
Total time: 2 h
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 3 cups whole milk; 2 to 4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (see Note); 1/4 cup white basmati rice, rinsed and drained; 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, crushed; 1 ripe mango, peeled and diced

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Three bowls of Indian rice pudding parfait with mango slices on top on a platter

Adapted from Monica Bhide | Modern Spice | Simon & Schuster, 2009

This dish is not only tasty (of course!) but has a very striking presentation. I have served it at many dinner parties just after guests have announced, “I could not eat another bite of anything. I am so full.” And then they have proceeded to polish off this entire dessert!

This recipe uses cardamom seeds. To obtain them, open a green cardamom pod and use your fingers to coax the tiny seeds out. Pound them gently using a mortar and pestle or put them in a heavy-duty plastic bag and pound them with a hammer.–Monica Bhide

Rice Pudding and Mango Parfait

Quick Glance
Quick Glance
1 H
2 H
Serves 6

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Ingredients

3 cups whole milk
2 to 4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (see Note)
1/4 cup white basmati rice, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, crushed
1 ripe mango, peeled and diced

Directions

In a deep saucepan, bring the whole milk and condensed milk to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly to prevent scorching.

Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the rice and cardamom and mix well. Continue to cook for about 50 minutes, until the milk has reduced by half and you obtain a creamy consistency. Stir frequently while cooking.

Remove from the heat and allow to come to room temperature.

Refrigerate, covered, for at least an hour.

When ready to serve, spoon some pudding into a wine glass, layer with some mango, and add another layer of rice pudding. Serve immediately.

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Notes

Use 4 tablespoons of condensed milk if you like your rice pudding really sweet. With 2 tablespoons, it is sweet but not overwhelmingly so.
If you have a mango that is firm, peel it and then use a vegetable peeler to create thin mango slices. Arrange the slices on a plate and place a scoop of the rice pudding in the center of the mango “carpaccio.”
Did you know?
Green cardamom is used in various forms around the world: people brew it in coffee, add it to liquors and perfumes, saute it with rice and meats, and in India it is eaten raw, whole (pod and seeds and all) as a digestive after a meal. It is also sold covered in vark, an edible silver foil, that makes it appear like a small shiny stone.

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Recipe Testers' Tips

Elsa M. Jacobson

Here’s a rich and interesting variation on rice pudding. The cardamom lends an exotic aroma and taste, and the mango adds the same elements plus a festival color to this dessert. A little goes a long way! It is rich and thick, and although the recipe states it serves six, it could easily serve twice that as an elegant ending to a meal. Or, if richness or dairy are a concern, another option would be to switch the proportion of rice pudding to mango, serving more mango with less rice pudding, effectively lightening the overall dessert, yet providing the same flavors to finish off the meal.

I liked that it had to refrigerate for at least an hour after coming to room temperature, so I made it the day before my dinner and chilled it overnight: this meant that I could focus on other dishes the next day, knowing my dessert was ready. As Bhide states, the presentation is striking and she was right – even the fullest of my guests had no trouble polishing off their serving of this rice pudding!

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