Many years ago high school students who took ‘Home Economics’ were taught to cook commonsense meals that were both easy, nutritional and budget-friendly. But that changed to a much more complicated version of cooking where students learned all about meals from other countries and cooked fancy meals that were more suitable for a celebration rather than a staple family meal.
There are now a few generations of people who didn’t ever learn the art of cooking wholesome family meals that could be done without having to read a cookbook or learn a whole new language. The rise of fast foods was helped by this lack, as people just want to get something to eat quickly and easily. And they didn’t really know how to do it without going to a lot of trouble to find out.
They may have learned how to use rice in many savoury dishes, but using it as a dessert is not so common these days. Yet grandma – or maybe great-grandma – used rice as a staple for desserts, rarely frying it or adding any rare spices or ingredients from a special shop. How? Here is a basic, easy recipe to give you a creamy, delicious dessert almost without even trying. Preparation time? Five minutes or less. Cooking time? Set and forget for 2 hours with your modern oven.
This dessert is so easy to prepare you can throw it together when you get home from work and it will be ready for the evening meal. You don’t need a special pan, it can also be cooked in a casserole dish or any other cake pan that it fits.
Gran’s Creamy Rice Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups of rice
- 1 cup of white sugar
- 1 ½ litres of milk – lite if you are watching your weight.
- 1 teaspoon of margarine
- A sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)
- A little hot water
Method
Place all ingredients in a 20cm square cake pan. Add enough hot water to dissolve the sugar. ¼ of a cup should do. Pop in a medium oven for 1 ½ hours, take out, stir and taste. Add more milk if it is too stiff. Replace at lower setting for another half hour if not quite cooked. The time variation is due to the type of rice used. Long grain rice is thinner, so cooks more quickly. This will serve four people with enough left for seconds. Serve warm on a cold night, or have it cold the next day for lunch.
Variations: You can vary this dessert by adding half a cup of sultanas, or by serving it with tinned fruit such as peaches. However, it is quite yummy on its own.