I have always considered myself quite a nice person. I like food of all shapes, flavours and colours. From every country and continent. I don’t discriminate, I am an equal opportunity eater. It’s only the doctors who say I’m intolerant. And certain foods who refuse to tolerate me. They certainly refuse to recognise and respect my right to eat them without major physical discomfort and distress.


Gluten and lactose are not my friends.


Despite the negative attitudes surrounding me from many of those I love best, (cakes, ice cream, hot toast) I decided to become a chef. Not always easy when you live in a bread and milk filled world. I like to think that this has helped me become a better person as I embrace my differences and refuse to let the gluten get me down. I believe InTolerance. I am the InTolerant Chef.

Food should not be about what you can’t eat, but what you can and what you enjoy eating. This blog is about my journey of cooking and eating and discovery. It’s not a definitive guide to allergy awareness nor do my intolerances make me an expert. Your body is your responsibility, not mine. I only know what works for me.


I can tell you this..... No glutens were harmed in the making of this website.

May 21, 2011

Pandan and Cardamon Rice Cooker Rice Pudding


My Rice cooker is one of my favourite pieces of kitchen equipment.

It takes all the guess work out of making perfect rice every time, it's never soggy or undercooked, and will sit there on the bench happily ticking away making mounds of fluffiness while freeing up the all important stove top. It will even keep it nice and hot for ages, so you can just set and forget, Fantastic!

Did you know you can do so much more than just plain rice in a rice cooker? I use mine to steam veggies, make risotto and rice pilafs as well. They all turn out great and with very little effort, again-fantastic! There is even a cookbook dedicated to this piece of kitchen wizardry called,'The Everything Rice Cooker Cookbook' by Tigerfish, who has a great blog herself, Teczscape- An Escape to Food.

Anyway, today is foggy and COLD, outside Google says the temperature for Canberra is 4*, and as I currently have builders (messy builders- who break things!) traipsing through my house, the door has been wide open since 8am meaning the inside approximates the outside very, very closely.
This calls for loud girly music to punish them, cue every Glee album including the Warblers, not giving them brownies as I had intended (maybe, it IS cold so I may relent) and warm, soft, sticky rice pudding flavoured with yummy pandan and cardamon. And this I WON"T share with them at all.




Pandan leaves are fairly easy to find now. I have seen them at the big supermarkets from time to time, but I get mine from the Asian shops. They only cost about $2 for a bunch, and if I don't use them all I just freeze them in a zippy bag for later. Don't worry if you can't get this, you can add a glug of good vanilla instead- Pandan is sometimes referred to as the vanilla of Asia as it's used as commonly there as plain vanilla is in the west.

Pandan and Cardamon Rice Pudding

1 cup of Rice
short grain is good for this, but I only had my usual mix 'Jasmati' a blend of jasmine for flavour and basmati for it lower GI goodness
3 cups approx of Coconut milk
about 1/4 cup of Palm sugar
Good few Cardamon pods
Pandan leaf
Good pinch of Salt

Shred the pandan leaf to help it release it's flavour, then tie in a knot or bow

Hit the cardamon pods with the bottom of a saucepan or rolling pin to get the little seeds out. Hit these seeds in turn to crush them a bit. I like to get a bit of the seed with a good hit of flavour.

Roughly shave the sugar. This is lovely and deep in flavour that goes well with the musty earthiness of cardamon. If you can't find it just use dark brown sugar, not castor.


Put everything in the rice cooker and stir it around a bit, make sure the pandan is mostly covered over by the liquid.


Turn the cooker on, and wait patiently for the magic to happen.




When the cooker thinks that this is ready, give it a stir around, check for seasoning- you might need a bit more sugar, and see if the rice is as soft as you want it. I normally put in a touch more liquid and turn it on for about another half cycle to mush the rice a bit more.You should be able to discern the grains, but they should be soft enough for that requisite not-much-chewing comfort eating.




I like to serve this nice and hot with a drizzle of palm sugar syrup - 1/2 cup palm sugar, 1 1/2 cups water simmered in a pan until reduced and syrupy, and a splash of coconut cream for extra loving.
















Yummm.... Cup this in your hands, breathe in the sweet scent and hint of spices, close your eyes, and let it cleanse your hurt feelings and comfort your bruised sensibilities....... ahhhhhh......




So my dearest Readers, what do you eat as comfort food on a cold, cold, foggy day?

12 comments:

  1. Wow this looks great. No i never knew i could use my rice cooker for anything else!

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  2. Great idea using a rice cooker and I'm sure it doesn't stick or need any stirring that way! I might borrow my parent's one! :D

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  3. I wish you could share this with ME instead ;) It looks divine. I love The Warblers. You know, I only ever use the right cooked when making a stiryfry and I want white rice. I should branch out a little. Ours looks like a spaceship. and it's pink. It's great :)
    Heidi xo

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  4. Looks great InTolerant Chef! My fav is a pipping hot bowl of pho on a cold cold day :) :)

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  5. Aaahhh, sympathies my lovely for having big booted builders who were all obviously born in a tent drampsying through your den - how awful. I swear they don't feel the cold but I bet the smell of yumminess from your kitchen was driving 'em wild (as they sure do like to eat).
    You've sold me on the rice cooker Bec, my bro whips up all manner of ricey goodness in them & swears by its prowess, but I've never played with one. I think I'll be checking that one out from now on. You make it sound a 'must have'. Have an awesome week girlfriend, keep warm & I hope the builders are gone & your new ???? is looking fine :)

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  6. I have never really been a fan of rice pudding (a texture thing perhaps) but this sounds rtally yummy!

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  7. I knew you could cook veggies, but had no idea you could make risotto with it! Amazing.
    What's also amazing is this recipe, because pandan is one of my all time favourite flavours. Bravo!

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  8. Hello Lovelies, the weather is just going to keep getting colder isn't it? At least every winters day means one day closer to spring!

    raja- Thanks, it tastes good too!

    Muppy- lots and lots of things, and so easy!

    Lorraine- no, don't borrow your mum's, go out and buy your own, they're so handy!

    Heidi- I'd love to share it with you anytime, As long as you bring your funky pink ricecooker! I don't mind the show, although I could do without the teenage angst-as I have my own teenager, but adore the music!

    Chopinandmysaucepan- I could so go a bowl of pho right now, so perfect for the cold weather too

    Anna- Sadly we had huglely incompetent builders who have caused a lot of futher damage and ALL the work they did now has to be re done. This is all due to a flood from 18wks ago!!! Our insurance agency is great, but the construction company sub-contracted out and these guys are now being investigated by the insurance agency.
    Sorry for the rant.....

    Lisa- texture can be a funny old thing, the taste can be great but if the texture's not your thing then it won't be good for you no matter what

    JasmyneTea- yes, the secret life of a rice cooker, more than meets the eye!

    Well Readers, apart from my little rant about the builders, things are going fine and I hope you all have a wonderful week, stay warm and keep away from all the fluey-bugs out there!

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  9. Thanks for the shout-out, sweetie! I do enjoy using my rice cooker to do more than cooking rice.

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  10. As you know, I love my rice cooker as well! :D But I'm still a little afraid to use it for other things like rice, especially milky things. It's just an on/off rice cooker, no fancy buttons for different programs, and I don't want to break it ...

    The addition of cardamom is very nice! I love cardamom in my coffee, that way I tolerate it better. :)

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  11. I cooked this last night using a drop of pandan paste and it was delicious, I was amazed at my rice cooker, timed it perfectly!

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