The masticha flavour makes this rice pudding a wonderful dessert, particularly when served with some good ice cream but I like it for breakfast too. If you don’t have masticha, flavour the pudding with 1 tbsp vanilla extract and some lemon zest.
If you have masticha drops instead of oil, powder 2-3 of these with a tsp of sugar in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder and add slowly tasting all the time. Too much will make the pudding bitter very quickly.
Using some corn flour makes the pudding particularly creamy and finishing it in the oven, burning its top adds a wonderful richness and smokiness to it.
Ingredients (6-8 servings)
- 125g short grain rice
- 1.13 Ltr full fat milk
- 150g caster sugar
- 3 tbsp corn flour
- 2-3 drops of masticha oil
- A pinch of salt
Method
Use a colander to rinse the rice in a bowl of cold water repeatedly until the water is clear. Drain.
Bring a saucepan with 450ml water to the boil. Add the rice and a pinch of salt and cook on a medium heat until the water has been absorbed and the rice is soft. Add almost all the milk, reserving a cupful. Add the sugar too and continue cooking for 15 minutes.
In a cup, mix the cornflour into the reserved milk, whisk to incorporate and add to the rice pudding in the pan. Mix well and continue stirring until the pudding has thickened, adding the masticha or vanilla too whichever of the two you are using.
At this point you may pour the pudding into glasses or ramekins, leave to cool and enjoy with your favourite topping (traditionally this would be cinnamon). You may however pour into a baking dish which you place in a deep baking tray containing some water and bake in the top of a preheated oven at 200C fan until a burnt skin forms on top of the pudding, approx. 30 minutes.
Leave to cool and enjoy as is or with a sprinkling of cinnamon powder.