(actually, it's dairy-free monday, but that doesn't read as well.)
on this little journey to plant-based eating (i've been vegetarian, nearly vegan for four weeks!), i've remained almost dairy-free. i gave in to a couple cheese cravings until meg introduced me to a truly wonderful vegan cheese. i've also missed the creamy feel of ice cream and kheer.
the other day, a friend shared this post about chia seeds. i've been sprinkling my salads with chia seeds for a few months and never thought about making a pudding with them. i followed the basic instructions in the post and played around with some chai spices to try to get that indian rice pudding feel and taste.
et voila: chia chai indian pudding!
{1} soak a chai tea bag in one cup of coconut milk for a few hours (i accidentally--or serendipitously--got the vanilla coconut milk and it worked perfectly). remove the tea bag after a few hours.
{2} crush three cardamom pods to release their goodness and put in the milk. add three whole cloves. stir in 1/8 teaspoon of rose water (this is optional, but it really gives it that true kheer taste).
{3} measure four tablespoons of chia seeds and stir in to the milk.
{4} put in an airtight glass container and refrigerate overnight.
{5} the next day, your chia seeds will have plumped up with all the milky chai-ness to resemble a rice pudding.
{6} sweeten with honey or agave nectar. chopped pistachios would be awesome too.
so here's the thing: it's a bit gel-ish, not quite as tapioca-like as the article suggests. but once i tasted it, i forgave it its weird texture and unfortunate grey color. it's amazing! i had a wee portion of the dish and i was full for hours.
