An Indian Trifle

Ingredients

• 2 pints (approximately 1.1 litres) milk (for boiling) (Full-fat milk works best for a rich, creamy pudding base.)
• 1 stick cinnamon stick (A whole cinnamon stick is used to infuse the milk; remove it before serving.)
• 4 tablespoons (or enough to thicken — add gradually) rice flour (Sometimes labelled 'rice flour' or 'ground rice' in shops. Use enough to bring the hot milk to a thick, spoonable pudding consistency.)
• 4 tablespoons cold milk (for mixing with rice flour) (Use cold milk to dissolve the rice flour into a smooth paste before adding to the hot milk, preventing lumps.)
• 1 to taste (start with 2 tablespoons and adjust) sugar (Add to the hot milk pudding while still on the heat. Caster sugar dissolves easily.)
• 1 portion (enough to fill the cut spaces) boiled custard (A pourable egg-based custard. Use a good quality ready-made fresh custard, or make your own vanilla custard by heating milk with egg yolks and sugar.)
• 1 small handful sliced almonds (Also called flaked almonds. Use as a decorative garnish over the top.)
• 1 to taste (a few teaspoons for dotting) currant jelly (Redcurrant jelly from a jar works well. Use a teaspoon to place small decorative spots on top of the finished dish.)

Instructions

1. 1Pour 2 pints (approximately 1.1 litres) of milk into a medium saucepan. Add the cinnamon stick. Place over a medium heat and bring slowly to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally to prevent the milk from scorching on the bottom. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low and allow the cinnamon to infuse for 2–3 minutes.
2. 2While the milk is heating, place the rice flour into a small bowl. Add the cold milk, one tablespoon at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition until you have a completely smooth, lump-free paste. This is called 'slaking' the flour and is an important step — if you add the dry rice flour directly to hot milk it will form lumps.
3. 3Remove the cinnamon stick from the hot milk and discard it. With the saucepan still over a low heat, slowly pour the rice flour paste into the hot milk in a thin, steady stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk. Continue to stir and cook gently for 3–5 minutes until the mixture thickens to a consistency similar to a thick porridge or semolina pudding — it should coat the back of a spoon. Add sugar to taste, starting with 2 tablespoons, and stir until fully dissolved. Taste and add more sugar if you prefer it sweeter.
4. 4Pour the thickened rice flour pudding into a shallow, wide dish — a round pie dish or a similarly shaped flat-bottomed dish works well. The pudding should be roughly 2–3 cm deep to allow you to cut shapes from it later. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Leave it to cool on the worktop for 30 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours, or until the pudding is completely cold and firmly set.
5. 5Once the pudding is fully cold and set, use a sharp knife or a star-shaped cookie cutter to cut the pudding into a star shape (or any other shape you like, such as a diamond or circle). Carefully lift the shaped piece out and place it onto the serving dish you want to present it on. The remaining pieces of pudding cut away around the shape are the 'spare rice' referred to in the next step — set these aside but do not discard them yet.
6. 6Place the star-shaped pudding on a serving dish. Around the star, there will be empty spaces on the plate where the spare (trimmed) rice pudding pieces have been removed. Carefully spoon or pour the boiled custard into these spaces around the star shape, filling them so the custard sits level with or just below the top of the rice pudding star. If you are making your own custard, ensure it has cooled to a pourable but not runny consistency before adding it here.
7. 7Scatter sliced almonds over the top of the star-shaped rice pudding. Then, using a teaspoon, place small individual dots or spots of currant jelly at intervals across the pudding and around the edge of the star for a decorative finish. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve.