Rizogalo-Greek Rice Pudding

Rizogalo! Nearly every Greeks favorite simply made “mommy” food. Possibly the epitome of homey comfort.

I have the best memories of my mother making this late at night & then finding bowls cinnamon dusted rizogalo on the kitchen counter!

Rizogalo, or rice pudding, has been known as a Greek favorite food all the way to the Byzantine Empire. At least 1700 years ago.

Many years ago, I had asked both my mother & mother in law for their recipes, and they were both basically the same. Both women said you have to use rice that you have already boiled in water. Water will open up the rice kernel.

This recipe doesn’t use any eggs. No cornstarch either. The natural starches of the rice will thicken it and make it creamy.

I have tried boiling the uncooked rice in milk, like in many recipes I have seen. However, I have found that the rice kernel never really opens up and it remains a bit hard. Hence the reason that I had contacted the family matriarchs, Julia (my mom) & Georgia (my mother in law).

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked short grain white rice

2 cups of water

2 1/2 cups of whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

a slice of lemon peel

1 tbsp of vanilla extract

1 cinnamon stick

3/4 cup of sugar

a pinch of salt.

Cinnamon for dusting

Directions:

Begin with cooked white rice. I have done this with both long & short grain rice. I prefer the texture of short grain rice for this.

Boil 2 cups of water. Add in 1 cup of short grain white rice that you have rinsed. Bring that to a boil and then down to a simmer, and cover it. Let it simmer until all of the water is gone.

When it has cooked, fluff up the rice and add the milk and heavy cream. Bring this to a boil & lower to a simmer.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients and continue to simmer it for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring. you will notice some of the liquid evaporate. This means the rice pudding is thickening up & you are ridding the rice pudding of the excess water content in order to make it creamy.

Ladle it into your bowls & dust those with cinnamon.

If it becomes too thick, just add a little more milk & continue to cook for just a little longer. Your end result should be thick & creamy. It will continue to set as it cools down.

You can eat this both warm or cold.

Kali Oreksi!