Brown rice phirni

With every home filled with people in gorgeous dresses,tons of sweets and savories and of course the lights and sounds of crackers and fireworks,brightly lit homes[Wondering why?-Its Diwali-The festival of lights, in India] here is an easy breezy dessert that you can prepare today or just about any day…

This is another recipe that was in the forgotten treasure, but since I had some brown rice at hand ,I used it instead of the regular rice.A microwave version and hence no pains or worries about the cooking cooking time or phirni getting burnt or the need for frequent stirring.

Even when your home is filled with guests you can chat with them and yet whip up this simple and flavorful dessert and sit back to enjoy the compliments.

Phirni is a North Indian dessert ,also thought to be brought to India from the middle east and Pakistan.It is also spelt ‘Firni’ and is nothing but rice pudding with the basic ingredients being milk,rice flour and sugar.There are umpteen variations with different flavors like badam[almond].saffron,rose,strawberry etc.Mine has a hint of saffron….

You need :

Brown rice-1/4 cup
Milk-3 cups
Sugar-less than 1/4 cup
Ghee-1 teaspoon
Dark raisins and golden raisins – a few to garnish
Saffron – a few strands

1. Soak the rice for 2 hours[even if you are using the regular rice] and using very little water grind it into a smooth paste.Take care not to make it watery.
2. Soak the saffron stands in a tablespoon of warm milk,rub it and keep it aside.
3. In a deep microwave proof dish take a teaspoon of ghee and put in the raisins.
4. Mix to coat and microwave on 80% power for a minute or till they puff up.Drain from ghee and keep aside.
5. In the same vessel put in milk and ground rice.Mix well
6. Microwave on 80% power ,uncovered for 5 minutes.Stir with a wire whisk after every minute to avoid lump formation.If lumps do form be sure to break them.
7. Add sugar,soaked saffron and mix well.
8. Microwave on 80% power ,uncovered for 3 minutes,stirring at the end of every minute.It will be a little thick now.
9. Mix well and cool.
10. Serve garnished with raisins.

Note:

• The cooking time will vary.Hence start checking if it has thickened every minute from step 8.
• If the ground paste is watery,it will take more time to thicken.
• You can add powdered cardamom at the final minute of cooking.
• Can also be garnish with rose petals/fried nuts
• Serve warm / chilled

With is simple dessert comes my heartfelt wishes to all my blogging buddies,friends,visitors and well-wishers –