At the insistence of a particular friend and colleague, I made phirni after a really long time. Actually, it was she who reminded me that I also loved this creamy dessert made of rice flour and milk, and that it was time to make it again. The friend loved the phirni of Lazeez, a store in Bangalore, but due to some personal reasons she couldn't have it there for a period of time. So I was her only hope...well, not quite...but I took the opportunity to make our taste buds taste some sweet action. How did it taste? I leave it to my dear friend to answer that. Here's to you ASD!Ingredients:
Rice flour -- 4 tbsp
Milk -- 1 litre
Sliced almonds -- 1/2 cup
Sugar -- according to taste
Green cardamom -- 2-3 (crushed)
Saffron strands -- few
Procedure:
Coarsely grind the sliced almonds and make a paste with the rice flour by adding milk.
Take a heavy bottomed pan and boil the milk until reduces considerably, at least by three-fourth. Keep aside half cup warm milk and soak the saffron strands in it. While the milk is boiling add the crushed cardamoms. This adds a nice flavour and odour.
Once the milk has reached your desired consistency add the rice paste, saffron milk and keep stirring so that it doesn't stick to the bottom, until the rice is cooked. Let it thicken a bit, till it reaches a custard like consistency.
Cool for a while and add sugar.
Pour into serving bowls and chill in the refrigerator.
Garnish with sliced almonds and pistachios.
Note: Once the sugar is added, the consistency is thinned out, so its better to have a thicker consistency before adding the sugar. My experience with adding sugar to hot milk wasn't good, so I add the sugar later, once it cools down.
