The love for Phirni travels from Punjab to
Hyderabad. Be it the homemade grandmother's recipe in a Punjabi household or
the dessert during Ramzaan, it tastes equally refreshing if served at the right
temperature with the right flavors. 'Phirni' is a 'Kheer' like dessert but made
with the rice paste and Kewra dominating all other flavours. Here is my twist
of the traditional phirni, made with fruits and making it light on your tummy
after a heavy Indian meal.
Ingredients-
3 1/2 cups milk (approx. 700 ml)
1/3 cup basmati rice
1/2 cup sugar or Sugarfree sweetner
15 almonds- blanched and ground to paste using
little cold water
4 almonds- shredded
2-3 chhoti elaichi (green cardamom)- powdered
1 drop kewra essence or 1 tsp ruh kewra
A pinch of saffron soaked in a tbsp of water or
a little yellow colour
Fruits- Mango and Apple
Method
1. Soak rice for about 2 hours and grind to a
fine paste using cold water
2. Dissolve the rice paste in 1/2 cup of milk
and mix it with the rest of the milk
3. Bring it to a boil and simmer it for 5
minutes till it becomes thick and creamy. Remember to keep stirring the milk,
otherwise it might get burnt. To prevent lumps being formed, you can even use a
whisk to stir it
4. Add sugar, cardamom and saffron water, bring
to a boil again and simmer it for 1 minute
5. Remove from the flame and mix the almond
paste with the phirni
6. Let it cool. Once, it comes at room
temperature, mix the shredded almonds and kewra essence. Do not add the essence
to a hot phirni, it reduces the flavour of it
7. To assemble the phirni, use a glass jar. The
fruits can be sliced or chopped. Apart from Mangoes and Apples, you can use
fruits like melon, watermelon, green and black grapes, strawberry or chikoo.
Put a layer of fruits and then the phirni. You can make as many layers as the
depth of your jar allows
Traditionally, full cream milk gives the best
taste to the desserts but I can assure you, skimmed milk does not taste bad
either.
Addition of fruits, give the natural sweetness
to the dessert, so feel free to reduce the amount of sugar and increase the
quantity of fruits.
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