Phirni: Rice Pudding Recipe

I like snow, it makes me think of silence, of calm; the sounds are muffled, the noises dull, it seems like I'm projected into an almost dreamlike dimension. On days when it snows and I can stay home quietly, I don't miss the opportunity to get in the kitchen and experiment with some new recipe. Usually the choice falls on desserts, maybe a nice rustic cake that recalls the flavors of the mountains, but today, thanks to the wait for the spring season and the desire for the first warmth, I opted for exotic flavors that make me think of travel, of escaping to my favorite destinations. And here I have prepared the Firni.

I'm in a rosy mood lately. Not so much figuratively as concretely. Roses still remind me of summer, and as much as I try to love autumn with all my heart, the truth is that I'm a repeat offender. I found this recipe while browsing through images on Pinterest. It reminded me of summer, and I made it!

The original recipe calls for a more complicated preparation method, I did not strictly adhere to it. Besides, it is really good and delicate. It is considered the Indian version of rice pudding.

It's very popular all over the country and I learned that there are many variations. I only tried the northern version but it was enough to fall in love - it's served cold after meals, with little pistachio bites on top.

You can preserve Phirni in the fridge for at least 5 days, so you can make a big batch and keep small portions for a few days. This dessert is popular all over India, and you can find different versions, so feel free to garnish it the way you prefer: with almonds, rose petals, nutmeg etc.


This dessert is linked to a beautiful travel memory, that of a long stay in Kerala, a few years ago, to study Ayurveda, the traditional Indian discipline that deals with personal well-being. During my stay in Kerala, one evening we all went together to a restaurant in Trivandrum, a really welcoming place where a great variety of traditional Indian dishes were served.
The buffet was a real spectacle, you can imagine the riot of colors and the inebriating smells of spices that spread throughout the room. At the end of the abundant dinner in which my taste buds were able to rejoice. The waiter warmly suggested that I try Firni, a typical rice and almond dessert originating from the area of Rajasthan, in northern India, but now widespread throughout the Indian subcontinent.

I must say that I am not a great fan of sweets, and Indian desserts are traditionally very sugary, with slightly cloying flavors. None of this, the Firni is wonderfully delicate, creamy at the right point and pleasantly spiced: a superb gastronomic discovery.

I committed myself to looking for the recipe of this dessert that had pleasantly surprised me and I found out that there are a thousand" versions. After various experiments, here is the recipe that for me is the best in terms of result and quality of ingredients and above all also suitable for those who follow vegan, lactose-free and gluten-free diets.

I got carried away and maybe I wrote too much, but thanks to this post and the preparation of Firni I took a magnificent dive into memories.



Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice
4 tbsp almonds, crushed
4 tbsp ricotta cheese
5 cups milk
4 cups condensed milk
5 tbsp honey/sugar
1 tsp cardamom
1 cup rice flour
10 saffron threads
5 drops rose water



Recipe Method:

Rinse the rice, put it in a small saucepan with half the milk, cinnamon and cardamom pods and cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the pan, if the rice dries out too much add a little more rice milk. At the end of cooking add the sugar, turn off the heat and let cool.

Remove the cinnamon and cardamom and place the rice in the blender together with the cooking milk, blend until you obtain a creamy consistency mixture, if it is not very soft, add a little cold rice milk and blend again. Set aside the rice mousse obtained.

In a small saucepan, bring 125 ml of water to the boil, add three of the four tablespoons of almonds and boil for a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool, then blend the almonds in their liquid to obtain a sort of almond milk with the grains.

Add the almond milk to the rice mousse, put them in a new pot and cover them with the remaining half of the rice milk in which you have diluted the 2 tablespoons of flour. Stir to combine the ingredients and bring to the boil for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.

Turn off the heat and add the rose water and mix again. It is not easy to find this ingredient, as it must be a natural food water and not a synthetic flavoring, however, if you manage to find it, it will add a very special note to this dessert.

Transfer the mixture into individual cups, let it cool and then place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Before serving the dessert, remove it from the fridge in good time and decorate it with the spoonful of almonds that you kept aside and that you roughly blended together with the pistachio.