Saffroni Phirni

This Indian desert originates from the Punjab in North India. The cooking style and some ingredients have been changed to simplify it and make it more suitable for British tastes. Saffroni refers to the saffron and phirni or phirnee refers to the use of ground rice although this is traditionally made with whole rice that has been soaked in milk and then ground. This is a very tasty desert.

Ingredients

For 1	Continued...
2 tbspn milk powder (see note 1)	¼ tspn cardamom powder
1 tbspn ground rice	a few saffron threads (see note 2)
1 tbspn ground almonds	2 tspn milk (see note 2)
1 tbspn granulated sugar	2 tspn rose water
	1 tspn condensed milk (optional but recommended)

Preparation

Warm the milk and add the saffron threads and stand for a few minutes for the saffron to colour the milk.
If not using cardamom powder, de-seed sufficient green cardamom pods ( ¼ tspn) and grind to a fine powder using a pestle and mortar.
In a small bowl mix together the milk powder, ground rice, ground almonds, sugar and cardamom powder.

Cooking

Transfer the dry ingredients to a saucepan and stir in 100 ml of hot water, mix well and bring to a boil, stirring continuously.
Simmer, stirring, for 5 min, adding boiling water as needed to maintain the desired consistency (should be similar to rice pudding).
Stir in the condensed milk (recommended option) and finally the rose water.

Serving

Serve in a small bowl and drizzle with the saffron milk and garnish if you wish with some toasted flaked almonds.

Notes

(1) Milk powder can be purchased from most supermarkets or Asian outlets.
(2) The saffron milk is largely for presentation and can be omitted if you wish.

The main ingredients

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