Creamy Phirni with strawberry coulis

 

A "coulis" (pronounced as cooli) is essentially a puree made using any fruit or berry. But, in this recipe I have tweaked it a bit and kept my coulis a bit chunky, just for a bit more flavour and texture.

 

"Phirni" is yet another Indian sweet, traditional and served with a topping of nuts. However, I gave it a twist by serving and Indian sweet with a couli, which is generally served only alongside puddings, cheesecakes, etc.

 

 

 

Serves: 4-5 individual moulds.

 

Ingredients:

 

For the phirni:

Raw basmati rice                    6 tbsps

Milk                                        1/2 litre

Sugar                                      6-7 tbsps

Cardamom powder                a pinch

 

For the strawberry coulis:

Fresh strawberries                 1 cup

Sugar                                     4 tbsps

Salt                                        half a pinch

Water                                    1/4 cup

 

 

Method:

• For the phirni- wash the basmati rice well and soak it in warm water for 30 minutes.

 

• Next, grind this rice along with 1/3 cup water or cold milk to a fine paste. Keep aside.

 

• Bring milk to a boil.

• Now add few tbsps of the boiled milk to the rice paste and mix it well. Add this slurry to the boiling milk, stirring constantly.

Note- Mixing the rice paste with hot milk will temper it and bring the temperature of the cold paste up to the same temperature as the boiling milk. This will eliminate the possibility of the rice mixture getting lumpy once added to the boiling milk.

 

• Next, add the sugar.
 
• Keep stirring on low heat till the sugar dissolves and rice paste cooks.

• One way of testing if the phirni mixture is ready to be transferred to the serving dish is to check if it coats the back of the wooden spoon and when you run your finger across the back of the spoon, the line should stay and the mixture should not be runny.

 

• Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 5 mins. Transfer it into a serving dish or individual bowls and refrigerate it for atleast 8 hours or overnight.
• For the couli- chop the strawberries and combine it along with water, sugar and salt in a saucepan.

• Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer it on low heat, stirring occassionally.
• The liquid will thicken and become saucy.
• At this point, you can turn off the heat, cool this mixture and puree it and pass it through a sieve to get a smooth coulis, but I did not puree it because I like mine chunky.
• Pour it into a sauce-boat or small pitcher and refrigerate it, until ready to serve.

 

• Serve this coulis alongside the phirni or spoon some on top of the phirni and serve your guests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Cookin' & Keep it stylish!!