Start the day before. The chilling alone is 4 hr, against 45 min of actual work.
Allergens in Phirni: milk, tree nuts.
Ingredients
Quantities for 4.
- 60g, soaked 30 minutes then drained and coarsely ground Basmati Ricegrind to the texture of semolina, not to flour
- 1 litre full-fat Milk
- 100g Sugar
- 5 green, seeds ground fine Cardamom
- a good pinch, soaked in 1 tbsp warm milk Saffron
- 1 tsp Rose Wateroptional
- 1/4 tsp Kewra Wateruse one or the other, not bothoptional
- 2 tbsp, slivered Pistachiosoptional
- 2 tbsp, blanched and slivered Almondsoptional
Cookware
stovetop
Checked against the ingredient list for ten allergens: milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, mustard, soy and gluten. Brands vary, so read the label on anything new to you.
Before you start
- Soak the rice 30 minutes, drain it thoroughly, then pulse it in a grinder to a coarse grit. Flour gives you a gluey paste; whole grains never soften.
- Chill four shallow earthenware bowls, or any small bowls, before you pour. Phirni is set and served cold, never warm.
- Soak the saffron in warm milk for 20 minutes so the colour and scent come out.
Method
- Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy-based pan, then lower the heat to a bare simmer.Heavy-based only. Milk catches on a thin pan and the burnt taste goes right through the dish.
- Mix the ground rice with 4 tbsp cold milk to a smooth slurry with no lumps.Always slurry it cold first. Dry ground rice tipped into hot milk seizes into lumps immediately.
- Pour the slurry into the simmering milk in a thin stream, whisking the whole time.
- Cook on low for 20 minutes, stirring constantly and scraping the base and corners, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon and the rice has no bite left.Constant stirring for the full 20 minutes is the job. Stop for two minutes and it sticks.
- Add the sugar and cook 5 minutes more, until it thickens again to the consistency of pouring cream.
- Stir in the saffron milk and the ground cardamom, and take the pan off the heat.
- Let it cool for 5 minutes, then stir in the rose water or kewra.Off the heat and slightly cooled. Added to a boiling pan the scent simply evaporates.
- Pour into the chilled bowls while still pourable; it thickens a great deal as it sets.
- Scatter with the slivered pistachios and almonds and refrigerate at least 4 hours until firm and cold.
Storage
Keeps 3 days covered in the fridge and is meant to be eaten cold, straight from the bowl. Never reheat it. It is a set pudding, not a hot one.
Nutrition Medium estimate
One serving of Phirni (312 g) is about 394 calories, or 127 calories per 100 g.
Medium protein: 12 g a serving, 12% of the calories
| Per serving312 g | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 394 kcal | 127 kcal |
| Protein | 12.3 g | 4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 53.0 g | 17 g |
| of which sugars | 38.9 g | 12 g |
| Fibre | 1.9 g | 1 g |
| Fat | 15.7 g | 5 g |
| of which saturated | 5.5 g | 2 g |
| of which unsaturated | 8.7 g | 3 g |
Ingredients given to taste count as zero, so the real figures run a little higher. Estimated from raw ingredients using USDA FoodData Central.
More like this: Vegetarian Indian recipes · Gluten-free Indian recipes · No onion no garlic recipes · Kashmiri recipes
Times, yields, allergens and nutrition are guidance. Use your own judgement on doneness and on storing. More in About.