Wheat and coconut cream pudding

A couple of days back my good friend Kavita left UK and went back to India for good. Before leaving she gave me a bagful of groceries that she had left over and obviously couldn't finish before she left. This is a normal practice amongst us friends . Whenever one of us is leaving for good we kind of have a grocery distribution programme between us . The person who is leaving accumulates all the store cupboard groceries that she cannot use up and asks us to take what ever we fancy . So everyone kind of gets to explore her groceries which is fun . Although of course it is no fun to have one of your group leave forever. It leaves a kind of empty void that is very difficult to get used to.

So this time along with other things I got something that I had never used before. She had a container full of hand-threshed whole wheat from her family farm back home in India. So it was of the best quality ever. K said her mom-in-law and sisters in law make a kheer out of it although she had never tried it herself it UK. My initial enthusiasm on recieving it faded a bit when I saw the whole grain and wondered how I would cook it. I have cooked bulgar wheat before but this was something else altogether.

So I tentatively cooked it in my pressure cooker with some water. Thankfully it cooked beautifully and the kheer or pudding that I made from it turned out just fabulous. I cooked it in coconut milk and the taste was mind-blowing. So thanks to K for that! Bulgar wheat being widely available and imparting the same taste is my recommendation as a substitute to the wheat I used for this pudding

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Bulgar Wheat,

1 can of coconut cream

1/2 cup fresh grated coconut,

3/4 cup jaggery (or use light brown muscovado sugar)

a generous pinch of saffron,

1/2 a tspn of cardammom powder

1/2 cup approx milk (to thin the kheer if needed)

2 tblspns ghee (clarified butter)

Method:

Cook the Bulgar wheat with the grated coconut and some water in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles.

In another pan heat the ghee and add the cooked wheat and stir for a couple of minutes

To this add the coconut milk/cream from the can and stir it in well,

Next add the jaggery/sugar and the saffron . (you can soak the saffron in warm water or milk for some time but it's not neccessary)

Now simmer the kheer /pudding for a good 20 to 25 minutes on a very low heat, stirring occasionally so it does'nt stick to the bottom of the pan.

If you would like it a bit thinner in consistency add the milk. Remember it becomes thicker and thicker as it cools down, so it a good idea to have it a bit thinner than you would like when it is hot.

Switch off the heat after 25 mins and sprinkle the cardammom powder and stir it in well.

This pudding tastes good warm or chilled. We love it chilled. So I chilled it in the fridge for an hour before serving. To serve decorate with cashews or almonds or any dry -fruit of your choice.