A creamy, delicious rice pudding from the Mughlai cuisine. The perfect treat after a lavish dinner or to celebrate a happy occasion.
In the Indian cuisine you will find a rice pudding recipe from every region. And in a lot of Indian cultures, rice puddings are a must have in during festivals and other joyous occasions. A basic pudding or kheer recipe, is made by cooking raw rice in thickened and sweetened milk. Likewise, the phirni too, is a rice pudding. However, in a phirni instead of cooking whole rice grains in milk, coarsely ground grains are used. This Mughalai Indian dessert, is rich, creamy and indulgent. While there are quite a few variations, I am sharing with you my saffron and cardamom phirni recipe.
Talking of the types, there is a Kashmiri phirini, a Calcutta and even a Punjabi version, too. The Kashmiri phirni also has sooji or semolina, that is cooked along with the ground rice and milk. And that differentiates from the other two. This Mughlai recipe is a very popular Ramadan and Eid dessert. Additionally, this makes for a great sweet ending after a delicious meal of biryani and kebabs. Moreover, because this extremely delicious dessert is so easy to make, I make it very often when I have guests at home for dinner. The fact that I can make it a day earlier and keep it to chill, makes it even more appealing. Because, that would mean more time in hand to do the other arrangements on the day of the get together. š
You may also like another very popular Eid recipe,Ā sheer khurma (vermicelli and milk pudding)
Phirni
While the method of making my saffron and cardamom phirni is really easy, there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is the rice. The rice that you will need is Basmati rice, which has to be washed well and soak for about 20 minutes. Thereafter, you will have to air dried completely and grind it to a coarse powder. Now, it is imperative to carefully grind the rice. That’s because, you want a coarse mixture and not a fine powder. And this is an important, in order to achieve the phirni’s perfect, grainy texture. Therefore, instead of running your mixer/blender on full power, I generally pulse it. About 3-4 times, does the work. Secondly, always use full fat milk to make this Indian pudding. Whole milk ensure more creaminess, which lends a richer mouthfeel. And you definitely want that, after all this one’s a royal recipe.
Shikoras
Traditionally the phirni, once cooked, are set and served in unglazed earthenware bowls called shikoras. I am referring to the bowls you see in my pictures. And there is a very sound reason for using them. Since the shikoras are porous, they are able to absorb any excess moisture that remains in the pudding. This aids in firming up this rice dessert, thereby making them soft and creamy. A perfectly made and set phirni will not fall off these bowls, even when upturned. My bowls are from India, where it is very easily available. Nonetheless, if you can’t find them or don’t have them on you, you can set your pudding even in glass bowls.
If you have shikoras and are using them for the first time, keep them soaked in cold water for 30 minutes before using them.Ā This will rid them of any excess, loose earth sticking to them, therefore any excess earthen fragrance too. You could say, this is seasoning them, broadly.
Quick and easy
My saffron and cardamom phirni recipe is a quick and easy one. This is a one pot recipe, which will get done in 30 minutes. However, the pre and post preparation of this pudding are rather elaborate. Like I said earlier, the rice will need to be air dried after being washed. And this will take time, depending upon weather conditions around you. It took mine almost 4 hours to completely dry up. The post preparation bit is, allowing the phirni to set and chill. While some recipes suggest around an hour to two hours, I prefer refrigerating it overnight. Not only does this give it enough time to set but also allows it to chill very well, thereby making it more enjoyable.
So, if you are planning to serve it for dinner on a certain day, you will have to start preparations almost 24 hours ahead. Even though this may sound tedious, it isn’t, trust me. Every step of the recipe is simple. Just that, each step take a bit of time and love. š
Share it
Are you planning to try my phirni recipe? In that case, I’d love to see how it turned out for you. You could drop me you feedback in the comment section below and/or share pictures with me on Instagram. I’d be thrilled to hear from you.
Also see,
Thandai kheer with coconut milk
Kheer komola (Bengali orange kheer)
Eat hearty!
Saffron and cardamom phirni
Equipment
- Sauce pan
Ingredients
- 1.2 l whole milk full fat milk
- 75 g Basmati rice washed and soaked in water for 15-20 minutes
- 60 g sugar or to taste
- 1 tsp saffron strands
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
For garnishing
- 3 tbsp assorted nuts finely chopped
- 2 tbsp rose petals
- saffron strands optional
Instructions
- Drain the rice and spread it out on a dish cloth and leave it to air dry (mine took almost 4 hours). When completely dry, put it in a mixer jar and pulse it 2-3 times until you get a coarse powder
- In the sauce pan (at this point the heat is switched off) mix together the ground rice, milk and sugar. Now set it on your stove top and cook over medium heat
- When it comes to a boil, reduce the flame, stir through and keep cooking. After the first boil, add the saffron strands
- Keep stirring (so that it doesn't stick to the bottom) and cook the milk and rice mixture until it reduces to half it's initial quantity. When done add the cardamom powder, mix in and turn off the heat
- Pour into your shikoras (earthenware bowls) or glass bowls and let the phirni cool down to room temperature
- Then place a small sheet of cling wrap over each bowl and let it set and chill in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 4-5 hours
- Garnish with the nuts, rose petals and saffron strands and serve your creamy and delicious saffron and cardamom phirni chilled. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure that the saucepan you use is thick bottomed. This will prevent the milk and rice mixture that sticks to bottom, from burning
- Make sure to mix the milk, ground rice and sugar in the saucepan without putting the heat on (step 2). When evenly mixed, turn the heat on. This ensures no lumps of the rice in the pudding
- Do not grind the rice too fine or too coarse. Too fine will not give any texture to the phirni and too coarse isn't desirableĀ
- The cling film in step 6 ensures that the phirni doesn't catch any other smell when in the refrigeratorĀ
- If you'd like this pudding to be sweeter, increase the quantity of the sugar to be addedĀ
- l - litres
- g - grams
- tsp - teaspoon
- tbsp - tablespoon
