Milk and Rice Pudding

This pudding is the mother of all Indian desserts. It occupies a special place in Buddhist history. This is the pudding the young girl, Sujata, gave to Siddhartha when he had become extremely weak from over-fasting


3 1/4 ounces of rice
4 cups of whole milk
6 ounces of sugar
6 green cardamon seeds, ground coarsely
A few strands of saffron
1 teaspoon of rose water


Soak the rice in water for half an hour.

Slowly boil the milk in a thick-bottomed pan, stirring constantly, until it is reduce to 1/3 of its original volume.

Drain the rice and add it to the milk and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes.

Mix in the sugar.

Sprinkle the ground cardamom seeds over the milk mixture.

Soak the saffron strand in the rose water.

Crush the saffron into the rose water and sprinkle over the pudding.

Serve.