Black rice pudding with mango

Sticky rice with fresh mango is a favorite dessert in any Thai restaurant. This is a wonderful dessert that combines sweetened sticky rice with fresh fruit. In this recipe, we have upscaled the recipe and moved it away from the ordinary.

Black rice is a wonderful grain with a lovely earthy flavor. The earthy ice in this dessert is drenched in a wonderful sauce of creamy coconut and an organic sweetness from the palm jaggery. The fresh mango on top adds the freshness to the dessert that makes this dish sublime. This step away from the regular white glutinous rice and the addition of the sweet coconut sauce, upscale this recipe and make it divine. There is no going back to the regular dessert after you have had this version.

This was the first cookbook I bought by Naomi Daguid, and was immediately transported to wonderful meals at small tables across Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. A wonderful collection of recipes in a beautiful, coffee-table cookbook, mine stays in the kitchen! There are tons of recipes to explore, and lots of anecdotes and stories to tie the cuisine to the land and culture. One of my favorite cookbooks!

For more wonderful recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

1 cup black rice or red rice

3 1/2 cups water

2 cups coconut milk

3/4 cup palm sugar, jaggery, or brown sugar

A pinch if salt

Mangoes, peeled and cubed

Fried shallots (optional)

Cook the rice in the water till almost done, about 45-50 minutes, depending on the variety of rice you are using. You want the rice to have a good bite, but be cooked all the way through.

While the rice is cooking, heat the coconut milk, palm sugar, and salt on a low flame till the sugar is completely melted. Simmer very gently for 1 minute, stirring continuously so the sauce does not curdle. Set aside.

When the rice is cooked, drain the water if needed, but you should not have to. Add half the sweetened coconut milk keepung the rest to serve. Cook the rice down till the coconut milk has been completely absorbed by the rice and it has turned soft and sticky.

To serve, add 1/2 cup of the cooked rice on a plate. Top with the chopped mango. Drizzle some additional coconut sauce on top or around the rice. Serve.