By Humaira
Everyone in my household is cutting down or simply not drinking any cow’s milk. We’ve each slowly weaned ourselves from animal products for health and environmental reasons and are reaping the benefits by having less gastro related issues. So I did a quick Google search just to make sure we’re not falling for yet another fad and actually find out what the medical community is saying about dairy consumption. In an article on Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine I found this great quote…
Milk and other dairy products are the top source of saturated fat in the American diet, contributing to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have also linked dairy to an increased risk of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers.
My intent is not to be a preacher against the sins of milk. If you love meat and cow’s milk, please carry on, we are not judging you.
I just had to come up with some good justification, especially to, Jeja, my mom for messing around with her recipe. You see, I want Afghan food to be accessible, easy to make and enjoyed by everyone, including people with modified eating habits. So, I created a vegan Afghan rice pudding that has all the flavors of the traditional rice pudding without the dairy. Shhhh! Don’t tell Jeja.
Creating this video demo was a collaboration with my daughter Sofia and her two friends, Laura and Isabella. They’re seniors in high school and avid foodies. The threesome picked the recipe, helped me test it to perfection and they did all the clean up after the filming session.
Short grain rice
We took my mom's traditional sheer birinj recipes and made it even more delicious by using oat milk instead of cow's milk and coconut oil instead of butter. We tested the recipe with almond milk, coconut milk and oat milk before settling on oat milk which is chockfull of nutrients and high on fiber. I was even more encouraged to use oat milk after reading an article in the Good Housekeeping website, “Is Oat Milk Healthy?”…
Oats are one of the best foods you can eat for a number of reasons. First, as a 100% whole grain, they’re filled with fiber, plant-based protein, B vitamins, and minerals, including iron, calcium, and magnesium. They’ve also been linked to reduced risk of heart disease thanks to a type of fiber called beta-glucan that's been shown to improve cholesterol levels. This fiber also provides prebiotics, which fuel your body’s probiotics and help these friendly bacteria survive and thrive. Eating foods with beta-glucan has also been linked to improved immunity and gut health.II've retained the delicious flavors of a traditional recipe but modernized it with more healthy and hearty ingredients.
Not all oat milks are created equal. In my search for the best oat milk which would be absorbed by the short grain rice, while retaining a creamy consistency, Oatly won hands down and it has the highest amount of fiber.
If you can’t find Oatly, don’t worry, just use whatever oat milk your grocery store carries
Below are the ingredient for this recipe and you can watch the Youtube video for the cooking instructions or follow my instructions here. I invite you to join my Youtube channel by subscribing so you can get alerted whenever I upload a new video. Please hit the thumbs up button if you like the video. Please share this post and send me your comments, questions and pictures if you decide to make this dish.
Sheer Birinj
Vegan Rice Pudding with Rosewater and Cardamom
5 1/2 cups unsweetened oat milk
1/4 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon rosewater
dash of salt
1 cup Calrose or short-grain rice.
1/4 cup roasted slivered almonds (optional)
Heat a heavy-bottomed pot on medium heat. Add cardamom, let it bloom for one minute. Add oat milk, coconut oil, sugar, rosewater and salt to the pot, stir and bring the mixture to boil. Add the short-grain rice, bring to boil again and let it cook for 3 minutes before turning down the heat to simmer. Stir well, cover with tight-fitting lit. Cook the rice until creamy and moist, around 30-45 minutes. Stir every five minutes to make sure the bottom doesn’t stick. Don't overcook and let it dry out.
Let it cool for 10 minutes with the lid on. Spoon into a serving bowl, sprinkle the almonds on top.
Makes eight servings