Phirni Recipe / Kesar Firni

Phirni is a rice pudding that is extra creamy, thick, rich, flavorful, and super delicious. This popular Indian dessert is made with milk, ground rice, sugar, and nuts and flavored with cardamom, saffron, and rose!

The recipe for Kesar Firni or Phirni is simple, with only a handful of ingredients, but it makes one of the best desserts!

Jump to:

• Difference Between Rice Kheer and Phirni
• About Phirni
• Why You Will Love Kesar Phirni
• Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Directions
• Serving and Storing Suggestions
• Helpful Tips
• More Delicious Desserts
• Recipe Card

Difference Between Rice Kheer and Phirni

Though the ingredients of Rice Kheer and Phirni are the same, the way of making them is different. The Kheer is made with whole rice grains, and Phirni is made with coarsely ground rice. Also, the consistency of these two desserts is different. Phirni is thicker and creamier than Kheer. Rice Kheer can be served warm or chilled, but Phirni should be served chilled.

About Phirni

Phirni or Firni is a popular Indian rice pudding and perfect for special occasions! It is creamy, rich, thick, and absolutely delicious.

Making Phirni is simple with a few ingredients; the best part is that it is creamy without adding cream! Coarsely ground rice makes the Phirni super creamy and thick. Sugar makes it sweet; saffron, ground cardamom, and rose extract provide flavors, and nuts provide a pleasant crunch.

However, you can make this tempting dessert with only milk, rice, sugar, and ground cardamom. And skip the saffron, rose extract, and nuts if you do not want to add them. The recipe is simple but makes a very rich and scrumptious dessert.

Kesar Firni can be served as a dessert with lunch or dinner for a larger meal or make a perfect after-meal dessert.

Ingredients

1. Rice: Use the best quality basmati rice for this recipe. But if you do not have basmati rice, you can use other fragrant white rice, but do not use sticky rice.
2. Milk: For the creamy and rich Phirni, use only full-fat or whole milk. With low-fat milk, you will not be able to achieve the same creaminess.
3. Sugar: I have used cane sugar to make the Phirni. But you can use white granulated sugar instead. Also, add less or more sugar to suit your sweetness preference. Initially, add less sugar than mentioned in the recipe, mix, taste, and add more sugar as required.
4. Saffron: I always like to use saffron for most of the milk-based Indian desserts or sweets. It provides a great flavor and beautiful color to the dessert. However, to keep the Phirni plain, skip saffron.
5. Cardamom Powder: This spice is essential to add flavor to this dessert. I will highly recommend not skipping it.
6. Rose or Kewra Extract: Rose extract provides a delicate floral note to the dessert. But instead of rose extract, you can add Kewra extract or add a teaspoon of rose water.
7. Nuts: I have added blanched almonds and pistachios to the Phirni. But if you do not want a crunch to your dessert, do not add them to Phirni. Instead, use chopped nuts only for garnishing.

Step-by-Step Directions

• Rinse the rice couple of times and soak it in water for about 15 minutes.

• After soaking the rice, drain the water and spread the rice on a tray lined with a paper towel or clean kitchen towel.
• Allow the rice to become dry completely.

• Once dry, transfer the rice to the grinder or blender jar and grind it into a coarse powder.
• Do not grind into a fine powder; the coarse texture should resemble semolina. Set it aside.

• Add milk and saffron strands to a heavy-bottomed pan.
• Heat the milk and bring it to a boil.

• Once the milk starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and continue simmering the milk for about 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently.

• Add ground rice and stir continuously to avoid any lump formation.
• Continue cooking on low heat until the rice is soft, cooked thoroughly, and Phirni becomes thick and creamy.

• Once Phirni is thick and the rice is cooked, add sugar, cardamom powder, and chopped nuts.

• Stir well and once the sugar is dissolved, taste the Phirni and add more sugar if required.

• Continue cooking the Phirni for 5-6 minutes or until you get a creamy pudding-like consistency.
• Finally, add rose or kewra extract if you want, stir well, and turn off the heat.

• Let the Phirni cool down for some time, and then transfer it to the serving bowls. Next, place the serving bowls in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. 
• Seve the chilled Phirni garnished with chopped nuts and saffron.

Serving and Storing Suggestions

• Phirni is best served chilled. I like to keep it in the fridge overnight, but if you want to serve it the same day, let it cool in the refrigerator for at least 2-4 hours.
• Traditionally, Phirni is served in earthen pots. So if you have earthen pots, let the Phirni chill into them.
• Phirni will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Helpful Tips

• Rice: Do not overwash the rice, as we need to retain some starch for the creamy Phirni. Also, let the rice grains dry entirely before grinding; they should not be wet or moist. 
• Milk: It is essential to use whole or full-fat milk for the creamy and rich Phirni. Do not use low-fat or fat-free milk for this recipe.
• Sugar: I have used cane sugar for this Phirni, but you can use granulated white sugar instead.
• Saffron: Saffron adds warm flavor and a beautiful color to the Phirni. However, you can skip it to keep the Phirni plain.
• Cardamom Powder: You can skip saffron, but do not skip cardamom, as it provides the necessary flavor to the Phirni.
• Rose Extract: I like to add a delicate floral note to this dessert. But it is optional, or you can add Kewra extract or a teaspoon of rose water for the flavor.
• Nuts: I have added chopped blanched almonds and pistachios to the Phirni. But you can skip adding the nuts into the Phirni and instead use the nuts only for garnishing.
• Stirring: Stir the milk at regular intervals to prevent the milk from burning.
• Consistency: The Phirni will be further thickened upon cooling, so keep the Phirni consistency accordingly while cooking.

More Delicious Desserts

Recipe Card