Coconut sago pudding

This is a traditional Sri Lankan recipe, Sago pudding – made with sago and coconut milk and spiced with cardamom and cinnamon. The sweet cooling qualities of the sago and sweetner calm the hot and fiery pitta dosha that flares up in summer.

Kapha dosha can be aggravated with these qualities, particularly in winter, so to balance out use extra cinnamon and cardamom as they are warming spices.  This pudding can be eaten warm to manage vata and kapha dosha, and its softness and sweetness can soothe a dry vata imbalance.

Ingredients:

• 8oz or 1 cup sago/tapioca seeds

• 2 cups filtered water

• 1 cup thick coconut milk

• 1/2 cup of treacle syrup or 1/2 cup jaggery

• 3 - 4 cardamom pods

• 1 stick of cinnamon and 1 tsp cinnamon powder

• 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 the water. Bring to the boil, stirring as it thickens. Add coconut milk, treacle / jaggery, spices halfway through and bring to a simmer on low heat, continuously stirring as you go. 

• Remember - the sago will thicken while cooking, so add a little more water at a time if its starts to become gluggy before the seeds are all cooked through. To test if cooked, try a small 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 with more shavings of jaggery if more sweetness and texture is desired.