Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Strawberry Phirni

A phirni or firni  is an Indian dessert  similar to sweetened rice pudding.It differs from kheer/payas/payasam in that it uses coarse/broken rice paste or rice flour paste that sets into a creamy pudding.We can say it is a variant of kheer. Basmathi rice is used to make this and it is traditionally soaked in water for atleast half and hour,drained, sun dried and powdered to make a coarse rice flour which is then mixed with milk and cooked in sweetened cardamom added milk to make phirni.This is what I have  read about traditional way of making phirni. But the quickest way is to use rice flour which allows us to make the dessert instantly  and I follow MadhurJaffrey's recipe she has mentioned in "Climbing the MangoTrees" with the flour. Here I have made the pink  version by adding strawberry puree to it. A delectable twist indeed.

Ingredients:
Milk: 1 and1/4cup
Rice Flour: 1 heaped tbsp or 4 tsp
Sugar: 2 tbsp or as per taste

Strawberry Puree: atleast 4 tbsp

Garnish: Almonds : lightly toasted

Preparation:
In a small bowl,mix together 1/4 cup milk and rice flour to get a thick paste which should be lump free. Keep aside.I have used more rice flour than mentioned in the original recipe.

In a thick bottomed bowl,bring to boil the remaining milk to which sugar has been added.Remove from heat,thoroughly mix  in the rice flour-milk paste and return to heat. Let it simmer till thickens stirring almost constantly.It will thicken maximum within 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and let it come to room temperature. 

Fold in the strawberry puree. I had pureed  strawberries adding a little sugar which I added to the thickened  milk. Pour it in bowls- preferably earthenware or matkas- or any serving bowls and let it chill for atleast 30 minutes or dessert time. Garnish with nuts and serve.


Simple creamy dessert.I have avoided adding cardamom as I felt that the spice overrides the strawberry when I made it the first time.Feel free to make your own version of phirni which is excellent for the summer.

The author herself suggests that you wash the basmathi rice in several changes of water, then dry in the sun and finally grind/powder in a clean coffee grinder for that traditional touch. You can find the original  recipe in BombayFoodie

The strawberry phirni is off to Celebrate Sweets -Sweets with rice at Priya's.

Update: Thanks to Lubna,this delectable phirni is off to Food Palettes Series- Pink at TorviewToronto.


15 Comments:

Divya Kudua said...

Phirni with a strawberry twist!

Sunshinemom said...

Looks gorgeous and so easy! I make a strawberry soup similar to this but without the rice flour. This is going to be a good one!

Reshmi Mahesh said...

Delicious looking phirni....Adding strawberry has given a uplift to both colour and taste ....Superb

Bombay Foodie said...

Never heard of strawberry phirni before. Looks and sounds great!

Swathi said...

Strawberry phirni sounds dleicious.

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a catchy and inviting phirni,thanks for sending CL..

Indian Khana said...

Looks so gud ...love the strawberry twist ....

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow...love that color....love the taste of strawberry in phirni....looks delectable....u can also send this too Pink color event i think...
http://torviewtoronto.blogspot.com/2011/04/food-palette-series-pink.html

On a different note....nice to see that u people had gala time learning out new recipes...nice to c u all there....wish i could make out....anyways better luck...write down a mail of what happened there....

Cham said...

This one is fruity and pinky sweet! Love the strawb idea!

Joyti said...

It sounds very interesting and delicious. And the strawberries - what a nice touch. Nice color, too.

Santosh Bangar said...

tempting phirni
1st time here nice space do visit my site

Deepthi Shankar said...

Phirni looks very good, Sweatha. Loved strawberries in it

Swathi said...

Happy vishu to you and your family.

Torviewtoronto said...

thank you for linking this delicious looking phirni
flavourful and colourful
http://torviewtoronto.blogspot.com/2011/04/food-palette-series-pink.html

KrithisKitchen said...

Love anything sweet.. with strawberry and rice.. indeed new to me.. sounds and looks gorgeous!!
http://krithiskitchen.blogspot.com
Event: Serve It-Chilled

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