Pirini

Making pirini is ridiculously easy. And it is so delicious to eat. It’s the perfect dessert to end a spicy meal like a good chicken biriyani or curry.

Pirini is basically a South Asian rice pudding, made with ground rice and condensed milk, with a hint of rose water, topped with ground cinnamon and nuts.

I got this simple recipe from Sheeni, whose pririni is one of my favourites. Some of the top tips from Sheeni (and her Mum) on making pirini are:

• soak the rice over night
• draining the rice and grind the rice, but just pulse it so it is not too fine. Then spread the rice on a baking tray (on top of some baking paper) to remove excess water.
• once you start cooking the rice, constantly stir it, to stop it from forming lumps.

I cannot emphasis enough on the importance of constantly stirring the pirini while cooking it. Also, you can add the water if you feel it is getting too thick, while the rice is cooking. Another important part is balancing the taste of rose water. For me, that 1 teaspoon was really pushing it. I feel there might be some people who might find the rose water too strong so feel free to add a little less to begin with and see how you go. If you add too much, there is no recovering from that.

Pirini
Serves 6-8 people

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice (soaked over night)
• 5 cups water (approximately 750ml)
• two pieces of pandan leaves
• 1 can condensed milk
• 1 tsp rose water (or to taste)
• ground cinnamon
• silvered almonds or kanamadhu (sea almonds)

Method:

• Grind the rice in a food processor. I just gave it one pulse and it was done. Set aside the rice to dry out.
• Place the water and pandan leaves over medium heat and bring to boil.
• Once the water boils, slowly add the rice while stirring constantly.
• Bring the rice to boil and then simmer, until the rice is cooked. During this time, if the mixture thickens, feel free to add some more water.
• Once the rice is cooked, add the condensed milk. Continue to stir while adding the condensed milk slowly. Continue cooking over medium/low heat till the mixture thickens.
• Remove from heat and add the rose water and stir to combine.
• Pour the pirini into a shallow serving dish and top with cinnamon and nuts. Cool before serving.

Happy cooking.