Madhupayasa - Bodhi Day Dish

When Siddhartha awakened from his seven days of fasting and meditation, he was emaciated and very weak. A girl named Sujata from a nearby town came to him and gave him a bowl of madhupayasa in offering, believing him to be a deva - a spirit of the Pipul tree. When he told her that he was not a deva, she still insisted that he eat and drink to recover his strength.

Madhupayasa comes from the sanskrit words madhu (honey) and payasa (milk rice).

Madhupayasa (Sweet Milk Rice)

Ingredients:
Milk rice-
2 cups short grain white rice
2 cups thick coconut milk
2 tsp salt
3 cups water

Coconut treacle mix-
800g finely scraped coconut
2 cups treacle (coconut or kithul treacle)
4 cloves
pinch of salt

Directions:
Prepare the Coconut Treacle Mix-
Pour the treacle into a pot and bring to a boil while stirring.
Add the Coconut and mix well.
Take off the heat.
Add pinch of salt and the cloves, mix well.

Prepare the Milk Rice-
Put rice and water into a pan and bring to a boil.
Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
Add coconut milk and Salt.
Stir with handle of wooden spoon, cover and cook on low heat for another 10-15 minutes (until the milk has been absorbed).

With both parts made, divide the slightly cooled milk rice into two portions.
On a flat dish, evenly spread out a layer of milk rice using one portion (should be at least 1cm thick).
Then evenly spread the coconut treacle mix on top.
Cover it completely (including from the sides) with the second portion of the milk rice. It is important to do all this before the milk rice cools down too much as it will become too sticky to handle. When it's cooled, cut the rice concoction into blocks. You can serve this with slices of banana, mango, or strawberry, or just eat it plain.