Pour rice into a sieve and rinse well, then add to a large pot with the 4 cups of milk, pinch of salt, cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of the honey. The milk will bubble up when it boils, so you'll want to make sure your pot is large enough to accommodate this. Add dried fruit if desired.

Bring to a boil slowly over medium heat, then once it has boiled, turn the heat down to low and cover. Let simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and let simmer for another 10 minutes uncovered.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl with the remaining two tablespoons of honey and the vanilla.

When the rice has simmered for the remaining 10 minutes, take a ladleful of the hot rice mixture and slowly pour a bit at a time into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.

When fully incorporated, pour this back into the hot rice pot, stirring continuously until well blended. Turn the heat up to medium, and cook the rice/egg mixture until thickened, about 2-5 minutes. Be sure to stir continuously so that the pudding doesn't get scorched on the bottom.

This can be served warm from the pan, or chilled. Toasted slivered almonds and a sprinkling of cinnamon would make a tasty garnish.

*To make this vegan, use organic cane sugar or maple syrup in place of the honey and omit the eggs. Cook the pudding for approximately 10 minutes longer at the low temperature to create the thicker consistency that the eggs give. Almond milk is also a traditional ingredient and will give this pudding a wonderful, authentic flavour (many of the really old recipes I came across for rice pudding also included almonds).