Black Rice or Forbidden Rice

I love the colour black in my wardrobe, it is a very forgiving colour, taking care of me in a way I like, this love now has spilled into my food as well. I'm unabashedly in love in our with our indigenous Black Rice.  If I say it is versatile to cook and even better to taste and the best news is it has innumerable health benefits. How can something so good be so delicious to the palate as well?!
Nature's gift to mankind, these grains are full of antioxidants and the only grain to contain Anthocyanin.  It is also high in Vitamin E, ladies do you hear that ? This means it is great for the skin in simple language and compared to white or red rice, its calorie count is much lower, which makes a great source of low carbohydrate. Because of the presence of Anthocyanin, it protects the body from free radicals.
Ancient Chinese folklore claim that Black Rice was forbidden and reserved only for the Emperor and the Royal Family because of its nutritional and  healing properties. Mercifully, Black Rice is available to all now and we can all enjoy it without jeopardizing our lives!
I use it regularly in our diet, to pander to my sweet cravings and also have it as a savoury version, when I want something healthy and quick.  Simple  no-fuss dishes. This is one of my favorite desserts . I hope, you will enjoying preparing and eating this. It has a wonderfully nutty taste and the coconut milk makes it creamy and delicious.

Black  Rice Pudding:

1 cup black rice

1 1/2 cup water

500ml coconut milk

3/4 tbsp of Plam sugar or regular sugar

2 whole cardamoms.

photo courtsey Yogender Pal

Method:

Wash the rice and soak it in water for a couple of hours.

Cook rice in a pan along with the coconut milk and the cardamoms.  Keep stirring so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan, keep the flame medium. It will take about 20/25 mins to cook and the milk will thicken too.

Add sugar once the rice turns soft, use the back of the spoon to crush some of the rice grains. I personally like to keep the rice whole instead of very pulpy as I think the nutty texture adds an extra dimension to it.

Discard the cardamom and transfer to a serving dish or into individual serving bowls.

Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. Add freshly grated coconut on top and serve.

Black Rice Salad with Tofu

Black Rice Salad :

1 cup washed and soaked rice.

2 carrots julienned

3 tbsp lemon juice

A bunch of lettuce leaves

 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup mushroom, sliced

1/2 cup bell peppers, diced

1/2 cup tofu, cubed

3 tbsp of sesame oil

salt to taste

2 tbsp honey

Freshly ground black pepper

Handful of mirco green, I used Flaxseed greens.

Method:

Cook the rice in boiling water until plump and cooked, though, 15/20 mins. Drain excess water and spread the rice on a plate and fluff it up with a fork. Allow it to cool completely.
In a bowl, whisk lemon juice, honey, slowly adding the oil. season with salt and ground pepper, until it is a homogeneous mix.
heat a tsp of oil in a pan and cook the mushroom for 5mins, stirring all the time. keep aside to cool.

In a large bowl add the rice and all the vegetables and the mushroom. Drizzle the vinaigrette and toss well and serve.

Will look forward to your comments. Please feel free to share your views.