Riz bi haleeb (rice pudding)

Instructions

1. Reserve 125 ml (½ cup) milk and place the remaining milk in a large saucepan with the rice, vanilla bean, vanilla seeds and the cinnamon and bring to the boil. Add the sugar and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring every few minutes to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. By this stage the rice should have softened and be fully cooked.
2. Mix the cornflour with 125 ml (½ cup) water and whisk into the reserved milk. Stir the cornflour mixture into the rice mixture and cook over low heat, stirring every few minutes until the rice has thickened. Remove the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean.
3. Spoon the rice mixture into serving dishes and set aside to cool, then refrigerate for a few hours or until set.
4. For the sugar syrup, place the sugar and 250 ml (1 cup) water in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until it comes to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, the stir in the arak, sumac and cinnamon, then remove from the heat.
5. Place the strawberries in a bowl, pour over the hot the hot syrup, then top with the chopped pistachios. Stand until cool.   
6. Once the rice pudding has set, top with the cooled strawberries in syrup and a few lemon balm leaves. Finely grate some pistachios over the top and serve.