Coconut sago pudding
We have a few good weeks of summer left, so let's celebrate with a sweet and light dessert! This is a traditional Sri Lankan recipe, Sago pudding – made with sago and coconut milk and spiced with cardamom. It's sweet and cooling qualities calm the hot and fiery pitta dosha that flares up in summer. Kapha dosha can be aggravated with these qualities, so please consume only small amounts if managing kapha dosha. This pudding can also be eaten warm to manage vata dosha, and its softness and sweetness can soothe a dry vata imbalance but again, small portions are best.
Ingredients:
8oz sago/tapioca seeds
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup of treacle syrup
3 - 4 cardamom pods
A pinch of salt
Water to bind, if too gluggy
Method:
Soak sago seeds for about 1 hour in cold water, and drain.
Place drained sago in a pan, and add coconut milk, treacle, cardamom and salt and bring to a simmer on medium heat, stirring as you go.
The sago will thicken while cooking, so add a teaspoon of water at a time if its starts to become gluggy before the seeds are all cooked through. To test this, try a teaspoon of the mix after about 15 minutes - all the seeds must be soft and cooked through.
Remove from heat while there is still a liquid-y texture and allow a few minutes it to continue to thicken.
Serve warm, at room temperature or cold with shavings of jaggery if more sweetness and texture is desired.