I was talking to @mativity yesterday about the Middle Eastern desserts, called Milk Puddings by Claudia Roden and "creams" that is sweetened milk thickened with rice flour, cornstarch or other flours to a custard like consistency, with various sweet spice flavourings (saffron, cardamom, rosewater, etc).
It reminded me of Besan Payasam in South India. Sometimes called Chickpea Porridge, this dish is not a porridge in the traditional sense, but more like a custard. It is sweetened milk and spices thickened with chickpea flour. It is delicious!
The recipe is simple. Take some chickpea flour and add to milk. Add saffron, sugar, cardamom, cashews and maybe some dried or fresh fruit and simmer until custard-like. Now you have something sent directly from heaven, I am sure. And made in under 10 minutes. True instant food.
This is a generally a dessert, but it is also great for breakfast. It can form a replacement for egg custard in lots of recipes. Imagine it layered trifle like with fresh fruit.
There are recipes online if you search for Besan Payasam or Besan Kheer.
