It has been an extremely warm week so far here in California – in our pre-child era, we absolutely would have snuck out after dinner to line up for frozen yogurt at our favourite shop (and I’m serious when I say line up – the line would extend down the sidewalk).  But nowadays, with 7:30pm bedtimes, that habit is a distant memory.

I wanted to have something cold and refreshing available for dessert, so decided to make a coconut milk kheer (rice pudding) in the afternoon and then left it in the refrigerator to cool for a post dinner treat.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 cup basmati
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 tbsp raisins
• 1 cup water
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tbsp sugar (or more to taste, although I find that the raisins give it enough sweetness)

1. Warm the coconut oil in a small pan – add the basmati rice and stir to coat.
2. Add the cinnamon stick, raisins and water and bring the contents to boil.
3. Once boiling, reduce the heat to minimum, cover and simmer for 11 minutes.
4. Once the rice has cooked, add the coconut milk and sugar. Bring to boil and simmer – you will need to keep an eye on things to make sure the pudding doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
5. Serve warm or chill in the refrigerator.