Sutlac (Turkish rice pudding)

Rice

Rinse the rice, cover with 400 ml water and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes until almost all the water is absorbed.

Milk

Set aside 100 ml of the milk in a glass and pour the rest over the rice. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.

Use a heavy-based pan and stay close — milk and rice catch on the bottom and boil over easily.

Sugar

Add the sugar and vanilla and stir until dissolved.

Thickening

Stir the starch into the reserved cold milk and pour it into the pan in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Cook for 5 more minutes until it has the consistency of pouring cream.

The pudding thickens a lot as it cools, so don't cook it down to a porridge.

Pouring

Pour the hot pudding into bowls or ramekins and let cool to room temperature.

Chilling

Chill for at least 3 hours. Dust with cinnamon before serving. Done!

The chilling time isn't included in the cooking time, so it's handy to make sutlac the evening before.