Lebanese Rice Pudding

This classic Middle Eastern rice pudding, is cold, creamy, comforting and an absolute breeze to make!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Resting Time 3 hours

Servings people

Calories 147kcal

Author Farah Abumaizar

Ingredients

1/2 cup Egyptian (calrose) rice
1.5 cups water
2 cups full fat milk
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup white sugar 50g
1/8 teaspoon crushed mastic gum (optional) mistika
1 tablespoon rosewater
1 tablespoon orange blossom water

Instructions

If you have time, soak the rice for 15 minutes, then rinse until the water runs clear.
In a medium saucepan, add the 1.5 cups of water and rice. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until rice is tender and cooked through.
Add most of the milk, then to the remaining bit of milk add the cornstarch and whisk with a fork to form a slurry. Add this remaining milk/cornstarch mixture to the pan, along with the sugar and mastic gum if using.
Bring to a slow boil, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture thickens into something like a thick soup texture and coats the back of the spoon, around 5 minutes or so.
Take the pan off the heat. and add the rosewater and orange blossom water. Stir to combine. Let the rice mixture cool for 5 minutes before placing into serving bowls. Garnish with slivered pistachios, and dried rose petals if you like. Allow the pudding to cool completely before storing in the fridge.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and preferably overnight. It'll thicken the longer it cools. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

You can make this sweeter if you like by adding an additional 1/4 cup of sugar.

For best results, use short grain to medium grain rice. If you can't find Mastic gum, just leave it out!

You can also use leftover cooked rice in the pudding, just add it with the milk and the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes until thickened and creamy.

You'll know when the rice pudding is done cooking when it coats the back of a spoon and the mixture is the thickness of thick creamy soup. For thicker rice pudding, add a little more cornstarch and cook another minute or two, for thinner rice pudding, add a little more milk.

Garnishes: You can garnish with any nuts you like, cinnamon powder, raisins, cocoa powder, anything at all!

Storing Leftovers: Leftover rice pudding will last 4-5 days in the fridge. I've never tried freezing it, but rice pudding can technically be frozen for up to 2-3 months in a tight container. I'd recommend enjoying it fresh!

Gluten free rice pudding: rice pudding is naturally gluten free, just make sure you are using cornstarch that is clearly labeled gluten free.

Nutrition