It’s a tradition in both of my parents’ families to make rice pudding for birthdays. In the South, where my father is from, it’s a thinner version called paysam, with butter-fried cashew nuts to finish it off and plenty of cardamom, while my mother’s favourite Calcutta version, kheer, is thicker, with sliced fresh mandarin oranges. I like my rice pudding thick enough to stand a spoon in, so this hybrid version has Indian spices and the all-important condensed milk, but the baked top you’d expect from a British rice pudding.