Shir Berenj

Ingredients

Pudding

• 150 gshort grain rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
• 300 mlwater
• 1.5 litreswhole milk
• 150 gsugar
• ½ tspground green cardamom
• 1small pinch fine salt
• 1 tbsprosewater

To serve

• 2 tbspslivered pistachios
• 1 tbspslivered almonds
• ground cinnamon or cardamom, for dusting
• runny honey or grape molasses, optional

Directions

1. Simmer the rinsed rice in the water with the salt in a heavy pan, uncovered, for 10 minutes, until the water is almost gone and the grains have begun to swell and split.
2. Pour in the milk, bring to a bare simmer and drop the heat as low as it will go.
3. Cook uncovered for 45 to 55 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping the base, until the grains have collapsed and the milk has thickened to loose pouring cream.
4. Stir in the sugar only now, and cook a further 5 minutes; added early, sugar keeps the starch from swelling and the rice stays chalky.
5. Add the cardamom and rosewater, take off the heat and beat hard with a wooden spoon for a minute to break down a few more grains and gloss the surface.
6. Pour into individual shallow bowls while still fluid; it sets noticeably firmer as it cools.
7. Cool to room temperature uncovered, then chill for at least 2 hours until cold and set to a soft spoonable cream.
8. Scatter with pistachio and almond, dust with cinnamon or cardamom, and trickle over honey at the table if you like it sweeter.

Technique

• Afghan shir berenj is eaten cool, not hot, and is deliberately less sweet than Iranian or Turkish rice puddings. It is a breakfast and a Ramadan sweet as much as a dessert.
• It thickens a lot on cooling because the starch retrogrades. Take it off the heat when it still looks too loose or you will be eating rice paste.
• A heavy pan and constant low heat matter more than anything else. Milk scorches at the base within seconds on thin steel and the burnt note taints the whole pot.

Substitutions

• No short grain rice: use basmati broken by pulsing briefly in a grinder, which releases enough starch to thicken, though the texture is finer.
• Rosewater can be replaced with a 3 cm strip of orange zest simmered in the milk and lifted out at the end.

Variations

• Shir berenj-e-zafarani steeps a pinch of saffron in a spoon of hot milk and swirls it through at the end for colour and scent.
• In Herat it is set firm in a shallow tray, chilled and cut into diamonds to eat in the hand.

History

Milk-rice puddings spread through Afghanistan with Persian court cooking and are eaten across the wider Persian-speaking world.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shir Berenj?

Shir Berenj is a dessert from Afghanistan: slow-simmered milk and rice pudding scented with cardamom, eaten cool. Milk-rice puddings spread through Afghanistan with Persian court cooking and are eaten across the wider Persian-speaking world.

How long does Shir Berenj take to make?

Shir Berenj takes 10 min of preparation and 1 hr plus chilling of cooking. The recipe makes 6 bowls. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Shir Berenj?

Yes, within limits. No short grain rice: use basmati broken by pulsing briefly in a grinder, which releases enough starch to thicken, though the texture is finer. Rosewater can be replaced with a 3 cm strip of orange zest simmered in the milk and lifted out at the end.

What is the most important thing to get right in Shir Berenj?

A heavy pan and constant low heat matter more than anything else. Milk scorches at the base within seconds on thin steel and the burnt note taints the whole pot.