Orange Phirni Shots
FOR THE ORANGE PHIRNI: ¼ cup rice ½ cup water 3 cups full fat milk ⅓ -½ cup sugar ½ tsp orange blossom water 1 tsp orange zest ¼ cup fresh orange juice FOR THE PISTACHIO BARFI/FUDGE: 1 cup pistachios enough hot water for soaking ½ cup sugar ½ tsp orange zest ½ tsp orange blossom water ½ cup water some ghee (clarified butter) or unslated butter for greasing FOR THE CHOCOLATE CUPS: 100 g dark chocolate ¼ tsp orange blossom water FOR TOPPING: some orange zest some grated dark chocolate some finely chopped pistachio
PREPARATION OF ORANGE PHIRNI/ ORANGE RICE PUDDING: Wash rice in a sieve or strainer. Put it in a small bowl. Add the measured water and allow the rice to soak for at least 20-30 mins. Drain out the water. Add rice to a food processor and process to a coarse consistency, must like grainy sand or semolina. If you don\'t have a small food processor then add the rice in a blender with some of the measured milk and process it to a fine grain consistency. Add milk and orange zest in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil. Add the rice paste and mix well. Lower the heat to medium. Keep stirring the mixture till it becomes thick much like custard consistency. Add sugar and keep stirring till the mixture is thick. This will take about 20 -25 minutes. Remember to keep stirring the mixture so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Add orange blossom water and mix well. Allow the phirni mixture to cool down. Add fresh orange juice and mix well. Put the phirni in the fridge to chill overnight or for at least 8 hours. PREPARATION OF THE PISTACHIO FUDGE/ BARFI: Soak the pistachio in enough hot water for at least one hour. Drain out the water. Remove the skin from the soaked pistachio. Add the pistachio to a food processor and process to a paste. Don\'t overprocess as you don\'t want a nut butter. Heat the measured water, orange zest and sugar in a pan over medium heat. Stir so that the sugar melts. Allow the mixture to simmer till you get a one string consistency syrup. I usually press a bit of the cooled down syrup between my thumb and finger and open. If an unbreakable string is formed then the syrup is ready. Once the syrup is ready, add the orange blossom water and mix well. Then add the pistachio paste. The mixture will be runny. Keep stirring it using a spatula till the mixture comes away from the pan and forms into a dough. This process takes about 7-10 minutes. Take a small ball of the mixture. Allow it to cool and try it roll it into a ball. It should not stick to your hand or fingers. If it doesn\'t stick then the mixture is ready. Allow it to cool down just enough till its comfortable to handle. Grease small molds with some unsalted butter or ghee. Take about a teaspoonful of the barfi fudge, roll it into a ball. Put the ball in the mold, press it gently down and to the sides of the mould. Make sure the depression is enough to hold some phirni in it. I used silicon molds. Occasionally grease your finger tips to make the shaping process easier. Allow the pistachio fudge cups to set completely for at least 6-8 hours. I left mine overnight. Once set carefully remove the pistachio fudge cups from the molds. PREPARATION OF CHOCOLATE CUPS: Melt chocolate either in the microwave oven or over hot water. To melt over hot water, take a saucepan and a heatproof bowl. The bowl should be able sit in the pan without touching the bottom of the pan or the water. Add water in the pan, quarter full. Bring it to a boil. Take the pan off the heat. Add chocolate to the bowl. Place the bowl over the hot water. Mix till the chocolate melts. Add the orange blossom water and mix well. Take a clean brush and foil mini cups or silicion molds. Add about 1 tsp melted chocolate to the mold. Using a clean brush, coat the sides of the mold with the chocolate. I used 12 foil cups. Put the cups in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow the chocolate to set. Pour about 1 tsp melted chocolate again in the cups, Coat the sides. Chill for another 10 minutes. Repeat the above step again. Allow the chocolate cups to chill till required. ASSEMBLE THE ORANGE PHIRNI SHOTS: Remove the pistachio fudge cups from the mold. I made 18 cups. Remove the chocolate cups from the mold. I made 12 cups. Add some orange phirni into an icing bag. I used a plain round nozzle. Pipe the phirni into the cups. The remaining phirni I piped into mini jars. I got 2 of those. Sprinkle very little orange zest over all the filled cups and jars. Sprinkle some chopped pistachios over the chocolate cups. Sprinkle some grated chocolate over the pistachio cups. Sprinkle all three over the phirni in the jars. Served chilled. Please note that you cannot store the pistachio cups filled with phirni overnight as the cups will become soggy. Best to fill when required. The chocolate cup filled phirni stays well overnight in the fridge.
Dessert
