This is a very ancient dish, widespread in the East. Firni (or firni) is a sweet milk dessert made of rice flour, popular in India, Afghanistan, Iran, Azerbaijan… Each country has its own peculiarities: for example, in Afghanistan the dessert is tinted with turmeric, in India with saffron, in Iran firni is made with pomegranate juice. Today I will show you how to make it the Azerbaijani way. This dessert is prepared in Azerbaijan on holidays, for weddings and wedding ceremonies.
For this dessert, I always make my own rice flour. For this purpose, wash round rice (approximately 100 grams), spread it on a towel. Grind the dried rice in a coffee grinder, and then sift through a fine sieve. The coarse particles of rice left in the sieve should be ground again, otherwise they will be unpleasant to feel in the dessert. Of course, you can buy ready-made flour, but I don’t like firni with it. Although the dessert is more delicate and silky, it is somehow unpalatable and unexpressive. If you make your firni with store-bought firni, you should take 100 grams of rice flour, if you make it with homemade – 80 grams.
Rice flour is added to cold milk, along with a pinch of salt, and boiled with continuous stirring over medium heat until it thickens. Add sugar, pink water for flavor (if you don’t have it, you can replace it with vanilla), and, after cooking for a few more minutes, pour it into small, shallow plates. The dessert must be stirred all the time, otherwise the flour will stick together into lumps that will feel unpleasant in the mouth.
Wait a little while for the top to “grab” and sprinkle the dessert with cinnamon. Cinnamon is a mandatory ingredient in this dessert; without it, a firni is not a firni. No oriental housewife gives her guests a firni without decorating it with beautiful cinnamon patterns. And every drawing and every pattern is a meaningful symbol of ancient Turkic shamanic mythology. If the grape pattern on the dessert is a wish for wealth, the diamond pattern is a wish for sons and offspring. This is such an interesting dessert. Would you like to make one too? What would you wish for yourself and your guests? What symbol would you put on your firni?
Step 1
To make firni we will need: milk, rice flour, salt, sugar, rose water and cinnamon for sprinkling the dessert.
Step 2.
First we have to arrange the plates, since we will have to act quickly. Take the plates flat and small.
Step 3
Now prepare the dessert. Cooking utensils should be taken with a thick bottom. Rinse the bottom of the pan with water and pour in cold milk.
Step 4
Pour a pinch of salt and rice flour into the milk and stir. Place over medium heat and with continuous stirring, cook the mixture until thickened. This will take 10-15 minutes.
Step 5.
Once the mixture thickens, add the sugar and rose water. The mixture will become slightly liquid. Place on the heat and simmer again until thickened. The finished dessert has the consistency of greasy sour cream.
Step 6.
Once the mixture has thickened, remove the pot from the heat and quickly pour onto plates, as the dessert sets quickly.
Step 7
Allow the firni to cool slightly, although it can also be eaten hot.
Step 8
When the cooled dessert has “grabbed” the top, decorate with cinnamon as the fancy suggests.
