Eid Mubarak ! to you all.

Ramadan or Ramzan is a holy month for the Muslims world over, a month full of fasting and feasting, where a huge assortment of dishes influenced from the Arabian, Mediterranean, Persian and Middle-eastern cuisines are prepared and savoured. In India and South Asia, Muslim food, mostly rooted from the Mughlai cuisine or from the Mughals, who were believed to have brought Islam to this part of the world, are synonymous with their Biryani, Pulao, Kebabs, Kofta, Haleem , seviyan, khurma, phirni and the list goes endless. Sweets and desserts are invariably a part of just any kind of celebration including the Eid-ul-fitre where eating seviyan is customary.

This time, the Ramzan and the Eid has coincided with the Indian summer and hence Aam or Mangoes, were very much a part of the Eid celebrations. Who doesn’t love  this flavourful, sweet & juicy fruit tempting just anyone around it. It is one of the most loved fruit having superb attributes that makes it the right candidate to be coined as the King of Fruits. It is also the national fruit of India, hence the Scientific name Mangifera indica. For the Indians, summer means mangoes and I am sure the Indians who are settled abroad surely miss this Indian summer season influenced largely by this wonder fruit. We too have vivid childhood memories of our summer vacations that was filled with the joy of gorging on the sweetest and juiciest mangoes during our holidays. We, Indians have developed a strong connection with the mangoes that lasts our lifetime.

Since, I am totally lured by this wonder fruit day in and day out, I would like to prepare just anything with it that catches my fancy. However, desserts are my favourite. So, in this summer on the occasion of Eid, I have prepared  this mango Phirni with the now available Himsagar variety of mangoes. Phirni being an authentic Muslim dessert of Indian subcontinent (believed to have Mughlai and Kashmiri origins), well complemented my Eid spread. The phirni as you all know is a classic Indian rice pudding with a thick creamy texture and served in earthen cups that makes it even more inviting. This wonderful dessert are now prepared in a number of ways, seasoned and flavoured with a variety of ingredients to make it enjoyable in one’s own way. The phirni that I made with these fresh and juicy mangoes was really satisfying and I just could not stop myself from sharing the recipe with you.

Please note down if you want it as given below:

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

Rice (soaked for  2-3 hours) – aromatic Joha or just any rice : 1/2 cup 

Milk: 750 ml

Ripe aromatic mangoes :  Pureed pulp – 1 mango

                                                 Small pieces or bits – 1/2 a mango 

(Note : Avoid using tangy mangoes as it may curdle your milk).

Sugar : 3 table spoon or as required depending on the sweetness of your mangoes

Pistachios for garnishing, cashews & almonds (chopped) : A handful or as much you like.

Preparation:

1. Strain the previously soaked rice in a colander to drain off the water completely and keep for sometime to dry it.
2. Grind these strained & dried rice into a slightly granular powder and keep aside.
3. Boil the milk in a thick bottomed pan and reduce it somewhat by stirring continuously over a low flame.
4. Remove from the flame and add the ground rice by stirring in continuously so that no lumps are formed.Make sure your rice is uniformly dissolved in the milk without formation of any granules or lumps. 
5. Now put it back over a low flame,add mango pulp, sugar, chopped cashews & almonds and continue to stir till your rice is cooked nicely giving your milk a thickened creamy texture. (Note : This step is little tricky as it requires continuous stirring otherwise your phirni may clump up).
6. Turn off the flame, take it down, drop in bits of mangoes and garnish with pistachio.
7. Now, it is time to refrigerate and serve it chilled if you do not prefer to have it warm. But I do prefer to have it cooo..l and to enjoy this mango delight, I suggest you to have this chilled in this scorching summer.