Written by Tala Khanmalek

I caught a really bad cold over the weekend that wouldn’t let-up so I turned to my ancestral medicine for support. In addition to steaming over a pot of cooked lentils, I ate a bunch of ferini! As a kid, eating ferini was a much-anticipated treat when I got sick. That’s because ferini is actually a dessert.

Rice flour pudding is I think, the best way to describe it.  As Azita of Turmeric & Saffron notes, ferini is distinct from other swana rice desserts because it’s made with neshaste or rice flour instead of rice grains.

*You can buy a 12 oz. bag of neshaste at your local swana market for under $2.When eaten hot, this dessert doubles as a cold remedy, not to mention the perfect cold weather food. Ferini warms you up from the inside out and is especially soothing for a sore throat.

*You can also eat ferini cold, though the texture is completely different. I usually can’t stomach food when I’m sick but it’s easy for me to keep ferini down and it’s incredibly filling.

Basic ingredients:

• Neshaste

• Sugar

• Water, milk, or milk substitute

• Rose water

Optional:

• Butter

• Garnish (i.e. crushed pistachios or roses, slivered almonds, etc.)

*For one bowl, I use ½ cup neshaste to 1 ½ cup water 

Before you cook anything, dissolve the neshaste in a pot of the water, milk, or milk substitute (see picture). Make sure there’re no clumps, and then dissolve the sugar as well. Now you’re ready to cook! Stir the mixture on low-medium heat until it becomes pudding-y. Ferini hardens when it cools so you gotta stir constantly. Right before it’s done, add some rose water. Sometimes my grandma also adds butter. Enjoy in a bowl, with or without a garnish!   

Tala Khanmalek is an sdq femme of color currently based in Los Angeles.