The Indian subcontinent · Volume 19, The Ash Pot, the Bamboo Basket and a Border the Map Draws Wrong
Chak-hao kheer
Manipur, Meitei
Illustration
- Time
- 7 hours
- Researched
- Researched from 121 sources in the brief
Black rice pudding made from chak-hao, Manipur's aromatic, glutinous, anthocyanin rich black rice, genuinely different from the Chinese "forbidden rice" sold more widely in Britain.
As tradition built it
Serves 4. Soak 4 to 6 hours, then about 1 hour.
Ingredients
- 150 g chak-hao, or Thai black glutinous rice as the more honest substitute
- 1 litre whole milk
- 80 g sugar
- A pinch a pinch of ground cardamom
Method
- Soak the chak-hao for 4 to 6 hours.
- Drain and simmer in the milk on low heat, stirring frequently to prevent catching, for 45 minutes to an hour, until the milk has reduced by about half and the rice is cooked through but still distinctly chewy, firm outside and soft within.
- Sweeten with the sugar and finish with the ground cardamom, simmering a further 5 minutes to let the flavours settle.
- Serve warm or chilled.
What a modern chef changes
Rice cooked in two stages, and a dehydrated crisp of the pudding itself
Method
- First, cook the rice in two stages, a portion simmered until fully soft for body and a portion held back and added later, part cooked, so the finished pudding carries both a creamy base and distinct, chewy grains rather than one uniform texture.
- Second, reduce a separate portion of the milk on its own, unhurried, into a thickened, lightly caramelised base, folding it back through the pudding for a deeper dairy note than a single simmer gives.
- Third, dehydrate a thin layer of the pudding itself into a crisp, shatter it, and scatter it over the finished bowl for a textural echo of the same dish in a second form.
- Fourth, finish with a few drops of clarified, cardamom infused ghee rather than a dusting of ground spice, the aromatic carried in fat rather than left dry on the surface.