Monday, November 23, 2009

of pudding

This afternoon I tried to make a sort of Indian pudding called badam phirni, which seemed quite simple. First, I mixed up a small package of ground almond powder with 4 tablespoons of rice flour and 1/2 cup of milk. In a saucepan, I brought 2 more cups of milk to a boil, and when it was boiling, added 5 tablespoons of sugar. I took out some of the milk to mix with 10 strands of saffron. Then I added the almond-rice paste and the saffron mixture to the simmering milk and stirred for several minutes, until it thickened to a pudding-like consistency. Then I sprinkled in a teaspoon of cardamom and took it off the heat.

Only problem was, the pudding was lumpy.

Should I have dissolved some of the hot milk in the almond-rice mixture before adding it all to the simmering saucepan? Or is it just luck whether or not your pudding turns out smooth?

I don't mind lumpy pudding, myself. It reminds me of one time my dad took some of us canoeing in Canada, and we made instant chocolate pudding over the campstove with powdered milk. It was delicious, especially the lumps. (This was perhaps the third or fourth day of camping.) Absolutely tasty.

But most other people despise lumpy pudding, so I need to figure out how to make this properly.

3 comments:

Sue said...

Hmmm... I have only made pudding a couple of times, and it was't anything nearly so exotic!

What did you use to stir in the almond powder? When I am making something like pudding or gravy that is nicer without lumps I usually use a whisk to help get everything broken up more easily. Your idea of adding the almond rice mixture to a smaller portion first would probably do the trick, too.

J. J. said...

Ah, I used a plain old metal spoon. :) Next time I will dig out the whisk for that job!

I should say, the original recipe said to blanch 12 almonds and then grind them into a paste, but I decided that was too much work when I saw the small "Cook House" brand (maybe) package of almond powder. So I may have used more than 12 almonds' worth.

Gramma said...

Hi,
Just mix some of the hot milk into the almond-rice paste and stir or whisk like crazy to break up the lumps. If it still is thick, add some more hot milk and stir some more. This is the step where you break up the lumps. Then put it back into the pot and stir and/or whisk some more.