Guyanese Sweet Rice

Ingredients 

• 1 cup White Rice
• 4 cups water
• 2 Cinnamon Sticks
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 4 Cardamom pods
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract/essence

Optional:

• 1/4 cup golden raisins (rinsed)
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon custard powder (can also use corn starch)

Instructions 

Traditional Stove Top Method

1. Rinse rice 2-3 times, then add 2 cups of water and soak over night.
2. When ready to cook, add 4 cups of water and all of the spices to a sauce pan and bring to a rapid boil on high heat. Then drain and rinse the rice soaked overnight. Add the rice and raisins (if using) to the boiling water with the spices.
3. Continue to boil for 10 minutes then reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes without stirring.
4. Next, if using custard powder, dissolve the custard powder into the evaporated milk making sure that there are no lumps. A whisk is perfect for this. Then add the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract (essence) to the saucepan with the rice and stir to combine.
5. Continue to cook on low heat for another 10 minutes or until it reaches your desired thickness, stirring often to prevent burning or sticking.
6. You may remove the spices and add the maraschino cherries (if using) before letting the sweet rice rest in the fridge over night and then serving cold.

Instant Pot Method

1      Rinse your rice 2-3 times and set aside. Then add 4 cups of water, all of the spices and the raisins (if using) to the instant pot.

2      Seal up the instant pot and pressure cook on high for 20 minutes. Then if time allows to pressure down through a natural release (this takes about 10 minutes). Then remove the whole spices from the rice.

3      Next if using custard powder, dissolve the custard powder in the evaporated milk. Make sure there are no lumps. Then add the evaporated milk, condensed milk, vanilla essence/extract and maraschino cherries (if using) to the instant pot and mix well.

4      Let your sweet rice cool completely before moving to the refrigerator. Serve cold.

Notes

5      Dairy-Free Sweet Rice: For a more dairy-free and wholesome sweet rice consider substituting the evaporated and condensed milks with coconut milk and coconut cream and sweetening it with coconut sugar or maple syrup.

6      For that option use 1 cup of coconut milk, 1/2 cup of coconut cream, and 1/2 cup of coconut sugar. The sweet rice will have a darker color because of the coconut sugar but it is just as delicious.

7      Add the coconut milk and coconut sugar at the same point in the recipe where you would add the evaporated and condensed milk but mix in the coconut cream at the very end (metemgee)