FOOD | Phirni : The Egg-less Rice Flour Pudding

Recipe by SAMON RATHI | May 15, 2018

Mostly cooked during festivals, Phirni or the egg-less rice flour pudding is a delicious dessert which is usually savored after a grand meal. It is one of the traditional Indian desserts which is served chilled in earthen or clay bowls. The core ingredients of this delectable sweet dish are rice and milk. Creamy, smooth, and grainy at the same time, a phirni is a mouthwatering dessert that helps in making special occasions sweeter. Adorned with pistachios on the top, a phirni tastes the best when served chilled and thus, it is one of the crowd favorite desserts of India.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

– 1/5 tablespoon rice flour
– Milk 1 litre (Full cream or toned)
– Saffron strands
– 1/2 tablespoon cardamom powder
– 3/4 cup sugar
– 20 gms pistachios sliced

How To Cook?

Step 1

Bring milk to a boil in a large saucepan. Then, make a smooth mixture of rice flour dissolved in hot milk and then add the mixture to the milk.

Step 2

Cook the mixture until it gets thicker. Stir constantly so that the rice flour doesn't get stuck at the bottom of the saucepan. Now add sugar and cardamom powder.

Step 3

Take out 1 tbsp of the mixture and combine saffron strands in it. Now, add it to the boiling mixture and stir well.

Step 4

Simmer your gas for 5 minutes until the mixture gets boiled completely.

Step 5

Switch off the gas and pour the phirni in clay bowls or cups. Then, put the bowls in the refrigerator for an hour.

Step 6

Garnish the sweet beverage with sliced Pistachios on the top before serving.

Important Tips:

1. If you are serving the phirni in clay or mud bowls then, don't forget to soak the bowls in water for overnight. Otherwise, the clay or mud bowls might leave stains on your dessert.
2. Make sure to cook your phirni with some patience. Prefer cooking in low heat and keep stirring the phirni constantly to avoid lumpiness.
3. You can use other dry fruits like almonds in your phirni if you don't have pistachios in your kitchen.
4. You can add kewra to your phirni for a more aromatic taste. However, this is optional.
5. Phirni can be made with soaked rice too depending on your choice. If you are using soaked rice then you have to drain and grind the rice to a coarse paste. Then, follow the rest of the steps.
6. People who are calories conscious can use skimmed milk to prepare the dessert.

What's The Ideal Time To Have This Dessert?

You can prepare this easy-to-cook yet sumptuous dessert on special occasions and have a good time with your dear ones. In fact, you can cook this dessert for your brother and surprise him on the upcoming festival of rakhi This will surely make the best Rakhi gifts for brother. Although there is no ideal time to gorge on this delicious dessert as you cannot literally hold your cravings. However, having a bowl full of chilled phirni during summers is sheer bliss.

The writer can be reached at samonrathi@gmail.com

Image Courtesy: beautyhealth.tips