• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cooking Curries

  • Home
  • About
    • Work with me
  • Recipe Index
  • Contact
Home » Recipes » Cuisine » Indian » Northern Indian

Thandai Phirni with Brown Rice | Spiced Brown Rice Pudding

Published: Mar 9, 2017 · Modified: Apr 21, 2017 by Manju · This post may contain affiliate links · 7 Comments

8 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • WhatsApp
Delicious and delicately spiced rice pudding made with brown rice and milk
5 from 3 votes
Prep 25 minutes mins
Cook 15 minutes mins
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

A delicious rice pudding delicately spiced with Thandai Masala to create a special treat for this Holi. And the bonus is that this phirni is made with brown basmati rice!

Thandai Phirni (1)

Holi is almost here with promises of spring. Only, my weather app still shows lots of rainy cold days ahead. Well, at least in theory Spring is here soon.

Holi is the festival of colors that is celebrated in the Northern parts of India to welcome Spring / Summer. Well, we don’t really have a real spring season in India, we just spring into summer straight from winter, so basically its to celebrate the end of Winter.

When you think of food for Holi, the two things that come to your mind first are Gujjiyas and Thandai. Gujjiyas are flaky fried pastries that are filled with all kinds of sweet goodies like nuts, coconut, sugar and what not! Thandai is a spiced milk, that is made with a blend of nuts and spices mixed in with milk, strained and chilled. I bet the chilled milk is perfect after playing with all the holi colors out in the sun! Well, here in Seattle, we might need a hot cup of chai instead.

Thandai Phirni (1 of 8)

Phirni is a rice pudding, a cousin of the kheer / payasam that you more commonly find in the Southern parts of India. Phirni is made with broken rice and milk, where as the regular kheer / payasam is made with just rice and milk.

I love a good rice pudding, so to celebrate Holi my way, I combined the best part of Holi – the Thandai masala with my favorite kheer to make this Thandai Phirni. I also used Brown Basmati Rice instead of the regular white one that is used normally. Since it is soaked in water for a while and ground to a coarse paste, the cooking time does not increase a whole lot than when you use regular rice.

Thandai Phirni (8 of 8)

Thandai Phirni (7 of 8)

What is your plan for this holi? Are you gonna go out to play with holi colors or just have a party at home later? What all are you gonna make? I know I am definitely making this again.

Thandai Phirni (2 of 8)

Thandai Phirni with Brown Rice – The Recipe

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup brown basmati rice
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
For the Thandai Masala
  • 12 whole almonds
  • 7-8 cashew nuts
  • 5-6 pistachios
  • 5-6 green cardamom pods
  • 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon white poppy seeds / khus khus
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon saffron
For garnish
  • edible silver flakes
  • dried rose petals

Method:

Wash the brown basmati rice and soak it in water for about 20 mins. Soak the almonds in water for 20 mins.

Bring the milk to a boil, reduce the heat and keep it simmering. Drain the soaked rice and grind it very coarsely in a food processor. Add it to the milk and let it cook.

Now, remove the skin from the almonds by gently sliding it off. Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods. Add the almonds, cardamom seeds and the rest of the ingredients for the Thandai masala, except saffron, to a food processor and grind to a coarse mix.

Add this to the simmering milk and rice mix. Add the saffron too. Mix well.

Remove from heat and chill in the refrigerator. Pour into serving bowls and top with edible silver flakes and drier roses before serving.

📖 Recipe

Thandai Phirni with Brown Rice | Spiced Brown Rice Pudding

Manju
Delicious and delicately spiced rice pudding made with brown rice and milk
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine Indian
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • Ingredients:
  • ¼ cup brown basmati rice
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • For the Thandai Masala
  • 12 whole almonds
  • 7-8 cashew nuts
  • 5-6 pistachios
  • 5-6 green cardamom pods
  • 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon white poppy seeds / khus khus
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon saffron
  • For garnish
  • edible silver flakes
  • dried rose petals

Don't forget to check out Step-by-step instructions with photos in the body of the post above

Instructions
 

  • Wash the brown basmati rice and soak it in water for about 20 mins. Soak the almonds in water for 20 mins.
  • Bring the milk to a boil, reduce the heat and keep it simmering. Drain the soaked rice and grind it very coarsely in a food processor. Add it to the milk and let it cook.
  • Now, remove the skin from the almonds by gently sliding it off. Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods.Add the almonds, cardamom seeds and the rest of the ingredients for the Thandai masala, except saffron, to a food processor and grind to a coarse mix.
  • Add this to the simmering milk and rice mix. Add the saffron too. Mix well.
  • Remove from heat and chill in the refrigerator. Pour into serving bowls and top with edible silver flakes and drier roses before serving.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Thandai Phirni (6 of 8)

Thandai Phirni (1)

More Cuisine

  • a bowl of avial over a kitchen towel
    Kovakka Potato Avial with Tamarind
  • caprese salad in a white platter
    Easy Caprese Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes
  • A set of four veggie uthappams in a plate with a bowl of chutney next to it
    Mixed Vegetable Uthappam | South Indian Veg Pancakes
  • a pan with brass handle with vathal kuzhambu curry in it and a bowl of rice next to it
    Sundakkai Vathal Kuzhambu | Turkey Berry Tamarind Curry
8 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • WhatsApp

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brandi Crawford says

    March 11, 2017 at 5:27 pm

    5 stars
    Gorgeous photos! This looks yummy!

    Reply
    • Manju says

      March 11, 2017 at 7:16 pm

      Thanks Brandi!

      Reply
  2. Tara says

    March 11, 2017 at 5:31 pm

    Such a beautiful dessert! I love the rose and silver on top and the use of brown basmati rice.

    Reply
    • Manju says

      March 11, 2017 at 7:15 pm

      Thank you Tara ?

      Reply
  3. linda spiker says

    March 11, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    5 stars
    Those spices have amazing color! Gorgeous recipe!

    Reply
  4. kathi says

    March 12, 2017 at 8:56 am

    What a beautiful photo and I love little portions of anything! Those little pots are so cute!

    Reply
  5. Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says

    March 12, 2017 at 9:52 am

    5 stars
    I love rice pudding and this is sooooo different from anything I have tried so going on my to make list.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

manju in a purple sweater

Hi, I'm Manju!

Pull up a chair and grab a cup of chai while I take you along on a fabulous journey in my kitchen. Whether you love to cook with spices or you are intimidated by them, I can help you discover the power of spices in your food.

While we cook, eat and drink wine, I will also show you a glimpse of my life as a mother of two, a wife and someone who loves to dress up, eat and travel the world.

More about me →

Recent Posts

  • A stack of pancakes with sliced apples and syrup on top
    Spiced Apple Cider Pancakes with Cider Maple Syrup
  • a bite of pancake on a fork on a white plate with a pancake stack on it
    Easy Basic Pancakes Recipe from Scratch
  • a collage of four images with text in the center of the collage
    30+ Favorite Fall Dinner Recipe Ideas for Cozy Weeknights
  • Greek Yogurt and Blueberry topped toasts on a white platter
    Blueberry Greek Yogurt Toast

Trending Recipes

  • Avial ~ Kerala Mixed Vegetable Curry with Coconut and Yogurt. Vegetarian. Kerala Sadya Recipe for Vishu / Onam Sadyas (Feast) www.cookingcurries.com
    Avial - Kerala Mixed Vegetable Curry with Coconut and Yogurt
  • Top wide shot of a platter with a bowl of potato curry and three pooris and another bowl of potato curry and a bowl of pickle to the side of the platter
    Aloo Rasedar (No Onion No Garlic Potato Curry)
  • Instant pot Indian Lamb Curry - Whole30 Paleo
    Instant Pot Indian Lamb Curry - Whole30 | Paleo
  • Butter Chicken - Murgh Makhani
    Butter Chicken - Murgh Makhani
Cooking Curries has been featured on prominent sites such as The Huffington Post, Woman's Day, Fox News, BuzzFeed, and many more.
  • Recipes by Cooking Method
  • Recipes by Course
  • Recipes by Cuisine
  • Recipes by Diet
  • Recipes by Season
  • Recipes by Holiday

Footer

↑ back to top

Contact

Work with me

Privacy Policy

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2022 Cooking Curries. All Rights Reserved.

8 shares