Bubor Pulut Hitam

This is a Malaysian rice pudding dish, made using glutinous black rice. I first tried it in a great restaurant called Tampopo, in Manchester, and have since wanted to try to make it myself. I think I did pretty well. :D

1 cup of black glutinous rice [Oriental food shops should stock this.]
2 cups of water
Handful of pandan leaves
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tbsp coconut cream

Soak the black glutinous rice for a couple of hours/overnight. This just helps to speed up the cooking process.


Drain and rinse the rice before putting it into a large pan. Add the water.
Break up your pandan leaves [but leave them in good sized pieces, as you must remove them later - you could tie them together to make it easier]. Add the leaves to the dish.


Bring the mixture to the boil and then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure the rice does not stick to the pan bottom.

Add the sugar and a little more water if necessary. Cook for a further 20 minutes.


Remove the pandan leaves and serve warm and topped with coconut cream, once the pudding has reached a porridge-like consistency.

Vegetable & Coconut Curry

I spotted this recipe in an "Everyday Vegetarian" cookbook. As is often the case in a student kitchen, I didn't have everything required but cobbled together something very similar to the original recipe, which smells and tastes delicious!

1 onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2.5cm fresh root ginger, thinly sliced
2 crushed dried red chillies, complete with seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
Array of vegetables [I used 175g baby corn & mange tout, plus 2 carrots]
250g coconut cream Jasmin rice, boiled

Place chopped onion, garlic, ginger and the chillies into a food processor. Mix into a semi-smooth paste. [If you do not have a food processor, chop all very finely and mix together.]

Heat the oil in a wok or heavy-bottom pan over a medium heat. Add the onion paste, cooking for a few minutes whilst stirring constantly.


Add the spices - turmeric, coriander and cumin - and continue to stir. Add the vegetables and coat them in the spice paste.


Add the coconut cream, cover and simmer for 20 minutes [variable depending on your choice of vegetables], until the vegetables are tender.


Serve on a bed of rice and enjoy! :)


The curry can be cooled, and frozen, to be enjoyed at a later date.