Pistachio Firni - A Treat for the Sweet Tooth

Hi, this is mie first post on this blog. Hence, to hit it up on a sweet note let me take you through making Pistachio Firni or Indian Rice Pudding.

Ingredients:

• Rice (soaked) - 5 Tbsp
• Milk - 1 Litre
• Kesar (saffron) - a generous pinch
• Sugar - 3-4 Cups
• Green cardamom (ilaychi) powder - Half Tsp
• Pistachios (blanched, peeled & sliced) - 10-15 nos.

Cooking Method:

Drain and grind the rice to a coarse paste -- Bring milk to boil -- Add rice paste dissolved in a little cold water or cold milk -- Cook till rice is well prepared, stirring constantly -- Add kesar (saffron) and mix well - Add sugar and cardamom (elachi/ilaychi) powder and cook till sugar is completely dissolved -- Pour into China dessert-bowls or small earthenware and garnish with the pistachios -- Chill it in the refrigerator for an hour and your Firni is ready to be served.

#FactCheck

Rice puddings are found all over the world, with recipes varying even within a single country depending on the preparation methods and ingredients used. The Firni, as it's popularly known in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, can be closely represented by M'halbi in Algeria (with cinnamon and rosewater) or Roz be laban in Egypt; and by Arroz con leche in quite a few European as well as Latin American countries.

#FundoSpot

According to Buddhist Sutras, Gautama Buddha's final meal before his enlightenment was a large bowl of rice pudding, prepared for him by a girl named Sujata.

In Jane Austen's Emma, comes an appealing reference to the combination of mutton and rice pudding  - "... his two eldest boys, whose healthy, glowing faces shewed all the benefit of a country run, and seemed to ensure a quick despatch of the roast mutton and rice pudding they were hastening home for."

T.S. Eliot, in the poem "Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town," writes: "If he looks full of gloom/Then he's lunched at The Tomb/On cabbage, rice pudding, and mutton."

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams the supercomputer Deep Thought derives the existence of rice pudding from first principles. This is to counterpoint between the complexity of Deep Thought and its task of exploring the eternal verities, with simplicity of the pudding.


#FoodQuote of the Day

"You don't need a silver fork to eat good food." - Paul Prudhomme (American celebrity chef)

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Pics Courtesy - zeemag.com; applemint.com; morphyrichardsindia.com