Maya-Mediterranean Chocolate Rice Pudding

Place the achiote seeds in a med-sized saucepan and cover with the water. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer, uncovered, for 5 min. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; set aside.

Meanwhile, rinse rice under cold running water until water runs clear. Drain well in a sieve or colander. Tie anise seeds, allspice, cinnamon sticks and dried chile in a piece of cheesecloth.

Pour reserved achiote water into a heavy-bottomed 5- or 6-qt. saucepan. Add drained rice, spice bouquet and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med.; cook, uncovered, until rice is soft, 20 to 25 min.

Stir in whole milk and condensed milk. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 min.

Add chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon to mix evenly as it melts. Cook, uncovered, for another 40 min., stirring occasionally; it should be very creamy but not dry. Halfway through the cooking, split the vanilla beans lengthwise with a small sharp knife and scrape the seeds into the mixture. Add the scraped beans and stir to mix well.

When the pudding is done but still a little loose-textured, remove and discard the spice bouquet and vanilla beans. Pour into a serving dish, dust lightly with the ground cinnamon, and serve warm or at room temperature.