Vegan Rabri Recipe – Indian Pudding

For an easy yet impressive holiday dessert try my vegan spin on Indian rabri,  a thick, creamy milk pudding. My vegan rabri recipe is made with nut milk and flavored with cardamom and saffron.  Gluten-free and soy-free.

Craving a sweet treat that is simple yet impressive and will soothe the soul? I have just the thing: this dairy-free Rabri recipe is everything you need in your life right now and perfect for Diwali, holidays and the cozy season. This month is all about Diwali festival sweets and treats!

What is Rabri?

Rabri is a divine Indian milk pudding. This traditional dessert is made by heating milk until a big part of the liquid has evaporated, and only a thick, creamy pudding remains. The slow cooking adds gritty milk solids to the texture as well as the Malai – drying milk skin which is folded into the pudding. This Milk Pudding is then sweetened and flavored with cardamom and saffron. My vegan spin on the classic Indian rabri recipe has no dairy. We are using homemade nut cream for thickening and almond flour for the texture. The vegan milk pudding couldn’t be easier to make, and it is every bit as delicious as the dairy version-probably even more!.

Our homemade nut milk has the perfect thick and smooth consistency and creaminess. Ideal for this rabri recipe, and what I love most is that this dairy-free pudding doesn’t need nearly as much time as milk to reduce because the added blended nuts already act as a thickener.

Rabri Pudding is usually flavored with cardamom and saffron and I stick to these traditional flavors. If you want to add one more thing, go with almond or pure vanilla extract. You could also add a splash of culinary rose water but be very careful. Rosewater can take over the flavor profile very quickly.

I like to garnish this pudding with chopped pistachios, but any nut or a combination of nuts and culinary rose petals will look pretty. Serve the Rabri chilled as is in small portions or over other desserts such as a hot jalebi or warm gulab jamuns!

More Indian Desserts to try:

Ingredients:

• For milk base, I go with a blend of coconut milk and oat milk. This allows for creaminess without being too overpowering in taste
• raw cashews act as a thickener and make the milk creamy. We want to soak the nuts in warm water for 15 mins
• pistachios are added for more flavor
• water is also added. The amount depends on whether you like your rabri thick or a bit thinner
•  saffron strands and green cardamom pods are the traditional flavors and I stick to those
• I use cane sugar as a sweetener
•  almond flour adds the gritty ness that you get in the Rabri. Thickening the milk slowly deposits milk solids in the pudding
• a pinch of salt helps brings out the sweetness
• I like to decorate the pudding with some chopped raw pistachios but any chopped or sliced nut will do

Tips & Variations:

• Garnish your rabri with chopped nuts like pistachios or cashews or sprinkle with sliced almonds and a few strands of saffron. Dried culinary rose petals would also look pretty here
• this dessert tastes best when chilled before serving
• You can fold in some fresh yuba (tofu skin) into the warm Rabri for a more Malai effect.

Ingredients for Rabri below. I usually have frozen coconut milk frozen in ice cubes when I open canned coconut milk.

How to Make Vegan Indian Milk Pudding:

Blend the coconut milk, oat milk, cashews, pistachios, water, saffron, seeds of the cardamom pod until well blended.

I usually blend it for a minute then let the mixture sit for 5 minutes for the nuts to rehydrate. Then I blend again for 30 seconds and I do this again once or twice until the mixture is incredibly smooth.

Add this mixture to a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil stirring occasionally.

Then add in your almond flour, salt, and sugar and mix in the mixture. After it has come to a boil, the mixture will tend to thicken and stick to the sides. So keep stirring.

Reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the mixture dry a little bit on the edges. Now, mix it in after half a minute and continue to cook the milk pudding for another 3-4 minutes this way or until the mixture is thickened to preference.

Take the pot off the heat. Let the pudding cool for a few minutes. Let a film form on top of the pudding, mix that in and repeat this a couple of times until the mixture is just about lukewarm.

Then transfer the milk pudding to your serving bowls. Top your rabri with the pistachios and almonds and serve as is or chill and serve.