Orange Rice Pudding

My mom made this for my 19th birthday (according to the Tamil calender, this year it's a day before my "real" birthday) and I was so touched and thrilled that she took the effort to make me something special that I would've posted this recipe even if it wasn't fabulous. Well, but you know what... it IS fabulous!!! The sweetness of this recipe is just right for me, but some of you may need to make this sweeter according to your personal tastes. My mom made this without the dates (which I don't like) and orange rind, but the original recipe includes them. Please note that prep. time does not include cooling time. This is from "Sweet Encounters" by Sanjeev Kapoor.

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup raisins, soaked in water for 15 minutes
• 2  cups  whole milk or 2  cups skim milk
• 1⁄3 cup medium grain rice, washed and soaked in sufficient water for 30 minutes
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons honey
• 1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1  teaspoon  orange rind, grated (optional)
• 6 -8  pitted dates, coarsely chopped (optional)
• 1⁄2 cup  fresh orange juice

Directions

1. Squeeze out excess water from the raisins and keep aside.
2. Boil milk in a non-stick saucepan.
3. Drain and add rice to the boiling milk, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring continuously until the rice is soft and the milk is completely absorbed.
4. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
5. Combine cooked rice with honey, raisins, vanilla, grated orange rind and chopped dates (if desired), and fresh orange juice.
6. Pour into a medium ceramic or glass ovenproof dish.
7. Bake the pudding in a preheated oven at 160 degrees Celsius (320 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes.
8. Serve warm or chilled.