Kesar Badam Phirni( Saffron Almond Rice Pudding)

Weather is a great metaphor for life.The change in weather gets me everytime.Just a week back in India,I was sweating like a pig at 115F,jes in a day when I reached here it was 60F and I needed a light jacket.Awww,I really admire mother nature for the way she has made things for us.As soon as I landed in Delhi,the first thing I enjoyed was to walk barefoot,no socks.....hurray!The weather was just so perfect,no sweater,no jackets,no ear protectors & no gloves. Here,towards the end of winter,I was a l’il irritated with everything white around me…I mean the snow,but now its Spring time,the greening of the grass,the leaves,flowers and blooms starting to come etc,it brings a whole new life together.Wonderful!

Well coming to the post, heard about “Phirni”? It’s a traditional Indian dessert,a rice pudding to be precise which is primarily made with milk,sugar and rice.This has been introduced to us by the Mughals.It’s very similar to the “Kheer” that we make.However,Kheer is Pakistani in origin,while Phirni is Indian.Though the original would always be the Kesar Badam Phirni, the variations to this are endless,the others include - Pistachios,Gulab(Rose),Chocolate,Mango,Apple & Banana Phirnis.



Ingredients:

Basmati Rice/Sona Masoori Rice – 4tbsp
Milk – 1 Gallon
Almond(Badam) – ½ cup
Saffron – a pinch (soaked in warm milk for 30mins)
Sugar – 1 cup
Cardamom Powder – ½ tsp
Silvered Almonds – 1 tbsp(for garnishing)

Method:

Wash and soak rice for about an hour.Soak Badam for about 6 hours,peel the skin and blend it into a smooth paste along with the rice.Boil milk,add sugar & cardamom powder,continue boiling until it reduces to 3/4th quantity.Stir well in between.Add the paste and saffron(already soaked in milk).Allow it to boil until it thickens completely(custard like consistency).Pour into individual cups,garnish with silvered almonds and refrigerate for about 6 hours.Serve chilled.



The last time I made this,instead of soaking the rice for long,I microwaved it for 2mins.Also,if you are too lazy to wait for the milk to thicken,you may add 2 tbsp of rice flour mixed with 1/4 cup of water,this will help in thickening faster.Adding Mango to this would be Mango Phirni,adding Banana would be Banana Phirni and so on.

This is off to "Ravishing Rice" event hosted my Nags of the Edible Garden,originally started by Meeta of Monthly mingle

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Bourbon Biscuits and am back!!!!

Okie…am back,not that I ever left,am back to the blogging world! I thought I would take a moment today to welcome myself back from a long and a wonderful vacation.Am I happy or sad???? Well,I have mixed feelings,feeling bad coz am missing my family,happy coz am back to my space,my sweet home. It was a long long….very long vacation,huh and its over now!

As it is said,”If you come as happy as you leave,you have had a good vacation”.I am thoroughly happy to get back,whatever it is end of the day you really wana get back to your den!. Have you heard this one too – “No one needs a vacation more than the person who just had one”.So am ready,P wat say,eh?

Few bloggers thought I disappeared, few kept checking on me…felt nice with all responses.Thanks a lot for stopping by my blog even in my absence. To kick off,I decided to make something sweet, which is actually both P’s & my favourite – Bourbon Biscuits.Does it ring a bell??? Yeah this is the one which is like a sandwich biscuit consisting of two thin dark chocolate biscuits with a chocolate cream filling.This one was one of my all time fav as a kid,I remember licking the cream inside first and then have the biscuit. It surely is a hit amongst kids.The chocolaty color makes this all the more appealing:)

This is P's cousins recipe, I believe she learnt baking before her wedding and his Aunt collated all the recipes n gave it to me during my visit this year.I did change a li’l as per requirement.

Ingredients –

All Purpose Flour/Maida – 1 cup
Sugar – 1/3 cup
Butter – ¼ cup
Baking Soda – 1/4tsp
Honey – 1tsp(optional)
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Cocoa – 3 tsp
Vanilla Essence – 2tsp
Cold milk – 3-4 tbsp

For Filling(Butter icing)-

Butter – 1/4cup
Icing Sugar – 1/3 cup
Cocoa – 1 tsp
Vanilla Essence – a few drops

Method:

Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add essence,honey and Baking Soda and blend well.Sieve the Flour with Cocoa and baking powder.Mix the Flour to the creamed mixture and form a soft dough.Add cold milk to this dough.Roll out the prepared dough on a board(You may use a li’l flour for dusting) and cut with a biscuit cutter(I cudn’t find mine,hence used a knife to cut into rectangles).Prick on top of the cut shapes with a toothpick and sprinkle sugar.Place on a greased and floured baking tray and bake at 355F for 8-10mins.Cool it for 2mins before using the filling.

For the filling:

Mix all the filling ingredients to a smooth paste.Sandwich the biscuits with this chocolate butter icing.



Brown is one of my fav colors too,hence this recipe perfectly fits in for FIC:Favourite.So here it goes to Curry Leaf who is hosting this event originally started by Harini of Tongueticklers.

Except for the baking,which is less than 10min this one is an easy stuff to make.So off it goes to 15 minutes cooking,hosted by Mahima of the Indian Vegetarian Kitchen.

I have missed alot of awards,i did see messages from alot of them about the same.Am yet to check and accept,however would like to thank each and every individual for having thought about me & passing it to me.Thanks a bunch!

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