North meets east Phirni with a twist.

Phirni is a variant of the famous European rice pudding which in India is popularly known as payas/payoxh or kheer. Phirni is more popular in North India, Pakistan, Afghanistan & Iran.It has been one of my favorite sweet dish since childhood. My mum made it quite frequently & she is really good at it. My hubby loves kheer ( but avoids it because of all the calories of sugar )so I thought why not try a new version which had the texture and look of Phirni & tasted some what like the famous Eastern India  gur kii kheer (rice pudding with date palm jaggery, just a consolation that jaggery is healthier).

My version of this sweet needs only three ingredients and there you have a fantastic tasting desert on your table .



Ingredients

• 1liter - full cream milk 
• 5 tbsp - rice (I used sona masoori rice but you can use any)
• 50 grms or to taste - khajur ka gur  
• 6-7 Badam (almonds for garnishing)

METHOD

• Soak the rice in water for  15 - 20 min.
• In a pan add milk and let it reduce to 3/4th of the quantity.
• Grind the soaked rice. The texture of the rice paste should be similar to semolina.

• As you cook the Phirni on slow flame keep stirring it as the cooked rice might stick on the base of the pan( try & use a non-stick pan if u r as careless as I am :) )

• Cook the pudding for atleast 35-40 mins or till the consistency thickens. Switch off the the flame and let cool for 10 mins, now add the jaggery into the pudding. Decorate with almonds & serve chilled.

Important note - if jaggery is added into milk while boiling, the milk cuddles up. So always add jaggery after the flame has been turned off.

Hope this recipe adds to ur collection of quick fix deserts when you have unexpected guest over at your place. Enjoy !!