My Favorite Greek Rice Pudding Recipe!

Hello everyone!

How are you doing? In this post, I’m going to be sharing my favorite rizogalo (aka Greek rice pudding) recipe! Rizogalo is an amazing sweet treat or snack to enjoy at any time of the day. In Greece, we eat it both cold and warm and top it with ground cinnamon or some orange peels. You’ll be amazed at how good it tastes!

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of Carnation milk and the equivalent portion of water.
• 7 heaped tablespoons of Corn Starch
• 6 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 lemon peel
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or powder
• Ground cinnamon to serve with.
• ½ cup of short gain rice

Instructions:

For the rice:

• Rinse the rice well and set aside.
• Add the 600 ml of water to a saucepan together with the lemon peel and pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Add the rice and drop the heat to medium. Cook until the rice absorbs all the water and becomes very soft and sticky.

For the custard:

• Add the milk and water with the cornstarch in a pot. Mix well with a whisk.
• Add the sugar, and vanilla extract. Heat over medium heat. Whisk continuously.
• Once the milk gets steamy, the custand will start to thicken.
• Stir with a whisk for a couple of minutes until the mixture starts to become creamy and slightly thickened. Be careful not to heat it too much, as it will create a layer of thick consistency at the bottom of the pod and you don’t want that. NOTE: It will start to thicken after it bubbles. Also, it will thicken slightly, and not too much. That is what we want. The custard will continue to thicken as it gets colder.
• Add the cooked rice (discarding the lemon peel) to the pot and whisk very well.
• Take the pot off the heat. Then transfer the rice pudding to small bowls.
• You can enjoy it warm sprinkled with ground cinnamon or let it cool down to room temperature and refrigerate for 6-8 hours to enjoy it cold, as it is mostly done in Greece.

Tips:

1. You can use white short-grain rice because it is sticky and goes well with the custard.
2. You can overcook rice until completely soft, looking gluey.

Enjoy and have a happy Thanksgiving! 🍂