PHIRNI

Author: Rekha Gupta

When you have guests at short notice and you are running out of time &with no exotic ingredients at hand OR when your family has that instant craving for ‘kuch meetha hojaye’ then Phirni is that humble yet exotic dessert that comes to rescue, as it is hassle free and just takes 30 minutes of cooking time with 3 basic ingredients. It most certainly is my “Go-To” dessert. It is a centuries old sweet which (like kulfi) was set in earthenware plates, because of a few scientific reasons: 1) earthenware soaks any water if left in the milk (while cooking) &helps to set the dish perfectly well ( without a fridge ). 2)Besides cooling the dish naturally, it gives the dish that unique‘ sondha’ aroma of earth hence one did not need add ons like cardamom or Saffron. I prefer to set it in these tiny matkis as the presentation makes it rustic and hence so much more delectable. C@Rg

U S P -My dishes have to be healthy and tasty both hence no short cuts.

Ingredients : Servings : 4-6

Cow Milk-1 ltr , Basmati Rice-1/2 cup washed and soaked for an hour in water , Mishri powder /Sugar -1 cup (less or more according to your taste), Kesar– 20 strands soaked in 4 tbsp boiling milk , Cardamom (Elaichi ) powder-1/2 tsp. ,Pista -1/4 cup chopped.

STEPS

Pour Milk in a heavy base steel pan and bring it to a boil.

In the meanwhile strain the water from the soaked rice and put it in a grinder with 2 tblsp.water and grind it on pulse 2 to 3 times a little Coarse /more like broken rice [should not become paste].

when the milk reaches a boil, add the coarsely grounded rice slowly with one hand and stirring the milk constantly with the other hand [if not stirred ,it becomes lumpy]. C@Rg

Keep stirring till it reaches a boil again in 2 to 3 minutes. Now leave it to simmer for about 20 minutes on sim flame till rice is cooked ,stirring it once in five minutes so that milk does’nt burn at the base of the pan.

When the rice is soft ,check between your fingers and the milk and rice have come together to look like a semi thick pudding , add Sugar while stirring till it reaches a boil again,then leave it to simmer for another 5 to 8 minutes.

Add kesar and elaichi powder, put off the flame when semi thick as it will become thicker when cools down. Pour it in the serving bowl (sorry after much advocating of matkis, didnt have them for presenting ✖️ ) and add pista leave it to cool and set at room temprature or if you like you can keep it in the fridge for 30 minutes. C@Rg

Note- whenever we add something to milk it has to be stirred till it reaches a boil again otherwise milk might curdle.

Do not forget to offer “bhog” (offering) to Bhagwanji before enjoying this yum sweet. 🙏

Author: Rekha Gupta