Phirni

Phirni…. “seta abar ki?(what is that) is what I thought when a friend of mine ordered it in a restaurant in Kolkata many years back. Within a few minutes of the phirni arriving our table, I found myself licking off the bowl of phirni.

Phirni is a Mughlai dessert that is similar to kheer or payes that is prepared in our households. There is a subtle difference between the two. Payes is Bengali households is often made with whole Gobindobhog rice while Phirni is prepared using ground Basmati rice.

A Mughlai meal of Mutton biriyani, chicken biriyani, chicken chaap is incomplete without a good phirni. Phirni is very easy to prepare and requires very few ingredients for preparation. So, go ahead and prepare your bowl of happiness today!!!!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Mughlai

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons of basmati rice
• 1 litre of milk
• 10-12 strands of saffron
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• ½ teaspoon of cardamom powder
• 2 tablespoons of condensed milk(optional)

Directions

1. Wash the rice and soak it in water for 30 minutes. Take care not to over wash the rice as over washing leads to loss of starch of the rice. The starch in the rice makes the phirni creamier.  
2.  Strain and remove all the water from the rice. Spread the rice on kitchen towel to air dry and grind the rice to a coarse paste.
3. Take the ground rice in a bowl and add about one cup of milk to it.
4. Mix the rice to the milk such that there are no lumps in the mixture.
5. Add all the remaining milk to deep-bottomed pot. Bring the milk to boil.
6. Once the milk comes to boil, add the rice milk mixture and the saffron strands to the milk.
7. Continue cooking the rice on medium heat. Stir continuously else the milk will get scorched at the bottom.
8. Once the rice is cooked properly, add the sugar and the condensed milk.
9. If you are not using condensed milk, add about ½ cup of sugar.
10. Continue cooking till you achieve a creamier consistency and the mixture reduces to almost ½.
11. Add the cardamom powder to the mixture and turn off the flame.
12. Transfer the mixture and freeze the phirni in refrigerator for few hours.
13. Serve the phirni chilled.

Step by step instructions to prepare phirni

Wash the rice and soak it in water for 30 minutes. Take care not to over wash the rice as over washing leads to loss of starch of the rice. The starch in the rice makes the phirni creamier.  

Strain and remove all the water from the rice. Spread the rice on kitchen towel to air dry and grind the rice to a coarse paste.

Take the ground rice in a bowl and add about one cup of milk to it. Mix the rice to the milk such that there are no lumps in the mixture.

Add all the remaining milk to deep-bottomed pot. Bring the milk to boil.

Once the milk comes to boil, add the rice milk mixture and the saffron strands to the milk.

Continue cooking the rice on medium heat. Stir continuously else the milk will get scorched at the bottom. Once the rice is cooked properly, add the sugar and the condensed milk. If you are not using condensed milk, add about ½ cup of sugar.

Continue cooking till you achieve a creamier consistency and the mixture reduces to almost ½. Add the cardamom powder to the mixture and turn off the flame.

Transfer the mixture and freeze the phirni in refrigerator for few hours. Serve the phirni chilled.

Thank you for stopping by. If you like the recipe do not forget to hit like. If you prepare this dish and publish your photos on Facebook and Instagram do tag #theepicureanfeast. Also for queries you can mail me epicureanfeast2019@gmail.com