For an easy yet impressive holiday dessert try my vegan spin on Indian rabri, a thick, creamy milk pudding. My vegan rabri recipe is made with nut milk and flavored with cardamom and saffron. Gluten-free and soy-free.
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Total time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup oat milk
- 1/4 cup raw cashews (soaked in warm water for 15 mins)
- 2 tablespoons raw pistachios
- 1 1/4 cups water (2 cups of water if you like you rabri a bit thinner)
- 7 to 8 saffron strands
- seeds of 1 green cardamom pod
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- a good pinch of salt
- 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped raw pistachios or chopped pistachios and almonds for garnish
Method
- Blend the coconut milk, oat milk, cashews, pistachios, water, saffron, seeds of the cardamom pod until well blended.
- I usually blend it for a minute then let the mixture sit for 5 minutes for the nuts to rehydrate. Then I blend again for 30 seconds and I do this again once or twice until the mixture is incredibly smooth.
- Add this mixture to a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil stirring occasionally.
- Then add in your almond flour, salt, and sugar and mix in the mixture. After it has come to a boil, the mixture will tend to thicken and stick to the sides. So keep stirring.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the mixture dry a little bit on the edges and then mix it in after half a minute and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes this way or until the mixture is thickened to preference.
- Take off heat. Let it cool for a few minutes. Let a film form over the mixture, mix that and repeat this a couple of times until the mixture is just about lukewarm.
- Then transfer it to your serving bowls. Top it with the pistachios and almonds and serve as is or chill and serve.
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.