While you must’ve enjoyed the ‘king of fruits’ in many forms, wait till you try it in an Indian dessert avatar. This Mango Phirni will make you fall in love with mangoes, one more time! It is quite delicious, creamy and an absolute cracker on the palate. Just follow the steps of this Mango Phirni recipe, make some at home and enjoy it with your near and dear ones.
Phirni is a thick and creamy pudding made with ground basmati rice. This Mango Phirni recipe is one of the most common variations to the regular phirni. This dessert is very popular in weddings, festive occasions or any special celebrations all across North India, especially in Punjab and Haryana.
You just got to plan your preparations like grinding the rice and pureeing the mangoes, post which it becomes really easy to prepare this Mango Phirni.
Since I am a fan of the Alphonso mango variety, I have used that in this Mango Phirni recipe. If you can’t source fresh mangoes, don’t hesitate to try the recipe with canned mango pulp. Here’s another mango favorite of mine, the velvety Thai style Mango Pudding.
Primarily, phirnis up north, are served in traditional shikoras, matka or kasore. These are a type of earthenware, usually small bowls. The extra moisture is absorbed by these special bowls making the phirni thicker. A unique earthy aroma is also infused because of these.
If you have these, I’d recommend you to use them. Fill your earthen bowls with the cooked phirni, cover with an aluminium foil, refrigerate for a few hours and finally enjoy the flavors.
Procedure:
1. Rinse ¼ cup basmati rice for couple of times in water. Spread it on a plate and let the grains dry. You can also spread it on a small kitchen towel.
2. After the rice grains are dried, take the rice grains in a grinder jar.
3. Grind till you get a semi-fine granular consistency, like that of rava or sooji. Keep aside.
4. While the rice is getting dried, peel, chop 1 large mango and add the mango cubes in a blender or grinder. You should be able to get 1 cup chopped mangoes.
5. Blend the chopped mangoes till smooth. Keep the mango pulp aside. If using store bought pulp, then use ½ to ⅔ cup mango pulp.
6. Take 3 cups full fat milk in a thick bottomed kadai or pan and heat it on a low flame.
7. Do stir at intervals so that the milk does not scorch from the base.
8. When the milk begins to boil, add the ground rice granules.
9. Stir very well.
10. Next, add 4 tablespoons sugar.
11. Stir well and cook the mixture on low heat, stirring at intervals.
12. The milk will thicken as the rice gets cooked.
13. Keep on stirring in breaks so that lumps are not formed. Also, scrape the sides often and add it to the simmering milk.
14. By the time the rice granules get cooked, the phirni would thicken considerably. At this stage, you have to stir continuously, so that the phirni does not brown or burn from the base. It took me 20 minutes for the rice to cook.
15. Switch off the heat when the rice grains have cooked well and reach a thick consistency as shown in the picture below.
In case the rice grains are not cooked and the mixture has become thick, then add ⅓ to ½ cup of hot milk to the phirni mixture and continue to cook.
16. Once the rice grains are cooked, add ½ tablespoon sliced or chopped pistachios, ½ teaspoon cardamom powder and 1 teaspoon chopped dried rose petals.
Instead of pistachios, you can add sliced blanched almonds. You can also add rose water instead of rose petals. Saffron also gives a good flavor, so you can also add a pinch of saffron.
17. Mix well and remove the pan from heat. Cover and let the phirni cool to room temperature.
18. Once the phirni has cooled, it will thicken more. But after adding the mango puree, it will again come to a fluid consistency.
19. Add the mango puree.
20. Begin to mix.
21. Mix very well to a uniform mixture. If you feel the mango pudding mixture is too thick, then you can add 2 to 3 tablespoons warm milk to it.
22. Now spoon the mango phirni in bowls. Phirni is traditionally served in small earthen bowls, also called as shikoras. if you have earthen bowls, you can serve mango phirni in it.
23. Garnish Mango Phirni with 1 tablespoon sliced pistachios or rose petals.
24. Cover the bowls and refrigerate the phirni for 3 to 4 hours. If in a hurry, then keep the bowls covered in the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes. Then, remove and refrigerate before you serve. Serve Mango Phirni as a dessert.
Expert Tips
- While the milk is kept for boiling, stir at regular intervals in order to avoid scorching at the base. Same goes while cooking the rice granules too.
- Ensure to grind the rice grains to a semi-fine granular consistency and not very fine. It should resemble the texture of fine semolina (sooji/rava).
- If your mangoes are extremely sweet, decrease the quantity of sugar in this Mango Phirni recipe. You can also use palm sugar or jaggery in place of sugar. However, by doing so, the color may sightly differ.
- Make other fruit based phirni instead of Mango Phirni. For instance, you can use apples, lychees or strawberries, or also use saffron to make kesar phirni. Use rose water as an alternative to rose petals.
- You can use 2 to 3 tablespoons warm milk to thin the phirni, just in case it is too thick after the addition of mango puree.