“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough” ~ Oprah

Back then I had loads of time in hand. My home and life was well organized and I never knew what ‘racing against time’ meant.

I was happy, but still felt a void in life and was searching for ways to fill it. As they say, change your perspective when you think your life is incomplete without something.

And then, food blogging happened.

Now the equation of life has changed. Five days to go for a food blogger meet, a deadline to meet for print media and a high-pressure photo shoot on very short notice.

And yes, I am racing against time…but I am content 🙂

Oh well, there is a temptation to take part in a food blogging contest by KitchenAid India on IFBM also….after all food blogging is where I belong.

I already had two recipes of  ‘Plum’ in my treasure and cooked both in a jiff. I could just about manage to click and post both the recipes before the D date for the contest…phew.

Plum and Almond Pudding aka Phirni

Firni is a delightful healthy dessert and could be cooked without much efforts. An earthen pot is a perfect vessel to set this dessert, as the porous surface of the pot will absorb water leaving a thick & creamy Firni behind.

The tart small Plums, mildly sweet coconut milk and the nutty almonds give a  wonderful burst of flavors and taste to this creamy rich Phirni.

Ingredients;

(serve 3)

• 2 cups coconut milk
• 10-12 almonds
• 6-7 fresh Plums
• 2 tbsp. cane sugar
• 1 tbsp. raw rice
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
• Few almonds to garnish
• Water to soak rice

Method; Soak rice and almonds in 1/2 cup of plain water for 15 minutes. Drain and grind rice and almonds into fine paste.

Wash, chop and puree plums.

Bring coconut milk to boil in a thick bottomed pan on low flame. Add rice-almond paste and keep stirring to avoid the mixture sticking to the bottom.

Make sure there are no lumps in the Phirni.

Add plum puree, sugar, cardamom powder and simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Take the pan off flame and let it cool.

Pour the Phirni in individual earthenware or bowls. Garnish with almonds slivers and edible silver foil and refrigerate the Phirni for 5-6 hours to set.

Notes;

1. You can peel the almonds before grinding if you dislike almonds peels in your pudding.
2. Use normal white sugar if you can’t get cane sugar, cane sugar gives a beautiful colour and caramelized flavor to the dessert.
3. Replace coconut milk with plain milk to get a different taste for this dessert recipe.

This recipe goes to KitchenAid India contest on IFBM.

....