Phirni - Creamy Rice Pudding

It's been long since i posted a sweet dish here. Phirni / firni, a creamy rice pudding is easy to put together and a sweet delight that is garnished with nuts. The basic ingredients are milk, rice and sugar, then as to one's taste and preference you can make variations to this basic recipe. Addition of almonds, rose water, saffron or mango or strawberry can bring about variation in taste. This recipe has some almonds and rose water to enhance the taste of phirni.

Ingredients

4 cups - Milk

3 to 4 tbsp - Coarsely ground basmati rice

1/2 to 3/4 cup - Sugar ( or as to taste )

1 to 1.5 tsp - Rose water or few drops of rose essence

20 - Almonds, blanched & thinly sliced

Method

1 ) To blanch Almond - Put almond in microwave safe bowl, with little water. Microwave for one minute. Take off the microwave and set aside for few minutes to cool. You can now peel the almond skin off very easily. Slice thinly and set aside.

2 ) Boil milk in a big pan. Once the milk has boiled, take some boiled milk and mix it with ground rice to a smooth consistency. Then pour the rice mixture to the milk on stove and keep stirring continuously. Cook till the milk has thickened and has a creamy smooth consistency. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes of cooking time.

3 ) Add sugar and taste for sweetness. Adjust sweetness as per your taste and preference. After adding sugar simmer for a few minutes to dissolve the sugar, while stirring constantly. Take off the stove, add the rose essence and stir in the sliced almonds, reserving some for final garnish on top.

Pour phirni into shallow dessert bowls. Allow to cool to room temperature, refrigerate and serve cold. Traditionally phirni is served in small earthen cups / matkas, like the one in the picture.

Note - For variation, crushed pistachio nuts can be added as final garnish. Also cardamom powder can be sprinkled.