Rice and Milk Pudding

I stayed home with my mother and grandmother and watched my mother cook a dish she had promised me: heytaliyeh, a rice and milk pudding. The milkwoman had knocked at our door, and my mother had bought a few pints of milk from her, which the milkwoman had poured into the cooking pot. This was an important event because my mother used to say she could not afford to buy milk except on special occasions and when absolutely necessary.

No sooner was I alone than I looked at the whi