Mango Phirni: Classic Dessert, Fruity Twist

A summertime favorite inspired by a recipe I saw on the TV show Turban Tadka. Mango phirni gives a seasonal twist to the conventional rice phirni. Serve it in silver bowls for a classic feel, or layer it in glasses western-style with nuts and mango pulp.

As I write this, the last mangoes of the season are to be found all around – fully ripe, fleshy and sweet. Just what we need for this mango phirni.

You Need:

[Makes 4-6 servings]

• Brown rice* – 4 tablespoons
• Milk – 1 liter, preferably full cream
• Ripe mangoes** – 2 (or as much as would give 1.5 cups of puree)
• Cream*** – 1 tablespoon (optional)
• Sugar – 3 tablespoons (adjust to taste/sweetness of mangoes)
• Raisins – 1 tablespoon
• Toasted almonds – 1 tablespoon, slivered

For the layering (optional):

• Digestive biscuits – 6

*I use the long-cooking brown rice for this recipe, as it brings a beautiful dense taste to mango kheer. If you don’t have this rice available, white rice will work too.

**Any variety of sweet, pulpy mango is good for this recipe. In the photos witht he post, you see mango mallika.

How To Make Mango Phirni:

1. Grind the rice

Wash rice in several changes of water till the water runs clear. Soak the rice in two cups of water for 4 hours.

Drain the rice, and grind it coarsely in a chutney grinder.

2. Make mango puree

Peel the mangoes and carve out the mango flesh, transfer to a blender. Sprinkle some sugar if the mangoes are not sweet enough. Discard the mango seed.

Pulse for a few seconds to make thick mango puree.

3. Cook the phirni and ‘mangofy’ it

In a thick-bottomed pan, heat a liter of milk till it boils. Set the heat to low and add ground rice to it.

To prevent ground rice from lumping, mix some hot milk into the ground rice and make a smooth thin paste of it, breaking lumps if any. Then add the rice paste to the simmering milk.

Cook while stirring the milk at regular intervals and rice till the rice is done and the milk has thickened. Be watchful about two things while the milk and rice simmer together:

• don’t let the rice stick to the bottom of the pan
• don’t let rice clump together

After about 30 minutes of slow cooking and regular stirring, the milk will begin to bubble thickly. That’s the time to stir in sugar, raisins and slivered almonds.

Cook for another couple of minutes (by this time the milk will be bubbling in splatters), and remove from heat.

Stir in a cup of mango puree and cream (if using) into the phirni.

Note: be cautious with the quantity of sugar you add to the phirni while it cooks, as mango puree added at the end contributes to its sweetness too.

4. Layer and Serve

Place 6 digestive biscuits in the grinder. Grind.

[This will also help clean up the mango puree in the grinder :-)]

Note: Let the phirni cool to almost room temperature, before assembling it for individual servings.

For each serving take a small glass. Add a layer of mango phirni at the base of the glass. Spoon a thin layer of powdered biscuits over the phirni. Top with another layer of phirni.

Decorate the surface with mango puree. Cover the glasses and refrigerate mango phirni for at least 3 hours before serving.

Serve mango kheer chilled as dessert or snack.

Notes:

Alternative layering ideas:

• sandwich a layer of mango puree between the crushed biscuits and phirni
• top the surface with almond slivers
• use mango cubes instead of puree for layering

Also try other mango recipes: mango chia pudding, sabudana coconut mango pudding, classic favorite aamras.