Place the rice in a large bowl and top with water. Soak the rice for a minimum of 4 hours, or overnight.
Let's get Cooking
Drain and rinse the rice, then place it in a large saucepan with 1.5 litres water (6 cups), the pandan leaves and gula melaka, and bring to a boil.Reduce the heat to low and cook, partially covered, for 1 hour. Stir occasionally, especially in the last 15 minutes, to stop it from catching and burning at the bottom.Skim off any excessive foam and discard.
At the end of 1 hour, stir in half the coconut milk and salt. Bring it back to a simmer and taste. Add more sugar, if not sweet enough.Take it off the heat and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
To serve, discard the pandan and dish out into individual bowls, topped with more of the coconut milk.
Notes
I've had a few questions about portion size for this recipe.If I were to weigh the finished product, I get about 1 - 1.2kg (2.2 lb - 2.6 lb). This depends on how much water I used to cook the rice. Sometimes, I need more than 1.5 litres (6 cups), depending on the rice itself.As this is a pretty rice pudding, I only ever serve it in small dessert bowls. I measured a portion, so I can give you an idea. It was 150g (5.3 oz). So not much at all. So I get about 6-8 servings from this recipe. If your portions are bigger, than you may only get 4-6.