SHAHI ZARDA RICE ( SWEET RICE) & PHIRNI

SHAHI ZARDA RICE

SHAHI ZARDA RICE    is a delicious rice-based dessert recipe.
Serve it as a dessert after dinner.

Ingredients

• Rice – 1 cup (Basmati rice)
• Hot Water – 1 1/2 cup
• Milk - 3/4 cup
• Sugar – 3/4 cup
• Saffron – a pinch
• Nuts (Cashews, Almonds etc) – handful

• Dry Fruits  – handful

• Coconut pieces – ½ cup 
• Ghee/ Butter – 2 tbsp 
• Orange or lemon Zest – 1/2 Tsp
•  Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp
•  Orange food colour - a pinch 
• Paneer or Khoya - 2 tablespoons

Instructions:

• Wash the rice and soak it in 15-20 minutes drain the water completely from rice. 

• Add the saffron strands, sugar to the milk and Microwave for a minute
• Let it soak while you get the other things done.

• Heat 2 tablespoons ghee or butter in a pan and fry the nuts and dry fruits over medium heat. 
• When the nuts turn golden brown and the dry fruits plump up, add the coconut pieces and drained rice.Fry this in the same oil until a nice aroma comes.

• Add the hot water, orange food colour, orange zest to this.

• Reduce the flame and cover with a lid and let it cook for 10 minutes.

• After the rice is 3/4th cooked, add milk and cardamom powder.

•  Cover with the lid let it cook on very low heat for another 10-15 minutes.

• When all the liquid would have been absorbed by the rice and the rice will be fully cooked. Stirring continuously the rice with a fork.

• Switch off and Garnish this zarda rice with grated paneer or khoya and sliced nuts.

SWEET COCONUT RICE

Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati Rice

1/2 cup Freshly grated Coconut 

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup coconut milk 

2 tablespoons Ghee 

1 tsp Saffron soaked in 1 tbsp milk

3 - 4 whole Green Cardamom

5 - 6 Cloves

1 stick of cinnamon

 salt as needed

1/3 cup Almonds, Cashew nuts, raisins altogether

Instructions:

• Wash rice and drain water for 15 minutes.
• Heat ghee, add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and stir. 
• Add rice saute for 3 min.  
• Add this mixture of rice pour coconut milk, salt and boil over medium heat.
• As starts boiling, cover with a lid and let it cook for about 10 minutes on low heat.
•  Cook the rice completely. Let cool it completely.
• In another pan heat ghee. Add rice, saffron, green Cardamom, grated coconut, sugar, nuts. Stirring and cooking until the mixture thickens.
•  Cover with the lid and let it cook on very low flame for 10min. Switch off the heat and keep the lid on for another 2-3 minutes. now sweet coconut rice is ready. serve hot garnished with cashew nuts.

ZORDA  SHEMAI

Ingredients:

• Shemai- 500 gm
• Milk-1 cup
• Sugar- 1 cup or to your taste
• Ghee - 1/2 cup
• Cardamom-4 piece
• Cinnamon-2 stick
• Bay leaf- 2 piece
• Almond(chopped)- 1/2 cups
• Pistachios(chopped)- 1/2 cups
• Salt as needed

Instructions:

• Heat ghee in a pan and saute the whole masala cardamom, cinnamon, clove, bay leaf, almond and pistachios for 15 minutes. 
• Add shemai and fry it over a medium heat until it gets a light brown colour. Add milk and mix it carefully with shemai.
• Cover with a lid for 1 minute. Then mix again carefully. 
• When shemai seems separated switch off the heat. 
• Take zarda shemai in a serving dish, garnish with almond and pistachios.

PHIRNI 

Phirni is a delicious milk and rice-based dessert. Serve it as a dessert after dinner.

Ingredients:

• Basmati rice - 1/4 cup
• Milk - 4 cups
• sugar - 1/3 cup
• Green cardamom - 1/4 Tsp
• Almond - 10 (blanched)
• 3 Saffron strands dissolved in 1 Tsp milk

For Garnish

•   2/3 almond sliced
•   2/3 green pistachios chopped
•   3 Saffron strand

 Instructions:

•   In a mixer grinder add blanched almonds and grind them with 1 tablespoon water into smooth paste.
• Wash rice and soak in water for half an hour.
• Drain excess water from rice.
• Add 2-3 tablespoon water with rice and blend until making a thick and smooth paste. Mix 1/2 cup milk with this paste and keep aside.
• Heat milk in a heavy bottomed pan and bring to boil over medium heat
• When it starts boiling add milk mixture and keep stirring continuously about  6-7 minutes or until the mixture turns thick.
• Mix sugar, green cardamom powder and dissolved saffron strands. stirring and cooking until the sugar dissolves completely.
• Add almond paste with it and mix well and cook for a few minutes.
• Switch off and transfer the phirni to a serving dish.
• Spreads almonds sliced, pistachios and saffron strands for garnishing.
•  Let it cools in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to set. take out before serving.
• Serve this delicious phirni as a chilled dessert after dinner.