“Mango is the national fruit of India, and it would be an understatement to say that Indians love mangoes,” writes the chef Anita Jaisinghani of Houston’s Pondicheri restaurant in her gorgeous new cookbook, Masala: Recipes from India, the Land of Spices. “In fact, Indians are obsessed with mangoes…Find the sweetest mangoes you can and make sure they are completely ripe before making this rice pudding recipe. A small yellow variety called the Ataulfo, which comes from Mexico, is my favorite mango here in the United States.”
Mango Rice Pudding
Mango Rice Pudding (Yield: 4 to 6 servings)
½ cup white basmati rice
2 cups whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
¾ cup cane sugar
1 tsp. ground green cardamom seeds
1 large ripe mango, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
¼ cup sliced toasted almonds
Preparation
- In a medium bowl, combine the rice with 2 cups tap water, stir gently for a few seconds, then drain all the water by simply holding your hand over the bowl and pouring most of the water out into the sink. Repeat and drain. Return to the bowl, add the milk, and let soak on the counter for 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
- In a medium heavy-bottom saucepan or Dutch oven, combine the rice with the milk, cream, sugar, and cardamom. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, or until rice is opaque and cooked through. Turn the heat off and let the rice rest. There will still be liquid in the pudding, which will get absorbed by the rice over the next few hours. After the pudding has cooled to the touch, roughly 2 hours after, stir the rice, making sure to be gentle to maintain the integrity of the long grain. Refrigerate the pudding for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. Serve cold, with the mango folded in or served alongside, and top with the almonds.
Reprinted with permission from Masala: Recipes from India, the Land of Spices by Anita Jaisinghani, copyright © 2022. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.Garden & Gun has an affiliate partnership with Bookshop.org and may receive a portion of sales when a reader clicks to buy a book. All books are independently selected by the G&G editorial team.