Recipe - Cardamom-Scented Sweet Rice

3 cup Lowfat milk or rice milk
1 cup Water
1 teaspoon Minced ginger
25 Cardamom pods
3 4inch cinnamon sticks
1 cup Basmati or jasmine rice
One fourth cup Honey
1/3 cup Pitted dates, chopped
1 teaspoon Vanilla
8 Sprigs mint (optional)

Combine 1 cup milk, water, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon sticks in a medium
saucepan. Bring to a boil, then add rice and honey and stir well. Bring
mixture to a boil once more, then reduce heat to low and simmer until rice
is tender and liquid has been absorbed (about 20 minutes).

Stir in remaining milk, dates, honey and vanilla. Let cook for 10 minutes,
stirring frequently. When pudding has thickened slightly, transfer to
serving dishes and chill. To serve, garnish with fresh mint.

Adapted by Karen Mintzias from a recipe in Delicious! (Feb. 1996)

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini