Lagan Nu Custard Recipe

While the real base for Parsi cooking is the holy trinity of sweet spicy and tangy, we have a major fondness for sweet things. When it comes to desserts there are quite a few but without a doubt the most famous and sought after Parsi dessert is the Lagan Nu Custard.

What Is Lagan Nu Custard ?

It’s a traditional Parsi dessert that’s served at auspicious or festive occasions. Lagan means wedding in Gujarati so this is a custard usually served at weddings. It’s not made everyday it’s slightly more elaborate than other desserts with it’s generous amounts of dried fruit.

Recipe

Ingredients

3 Eggs

1 Litre of Milk

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence

1 Teaspoon Cardamon Powder and Nutmeg Powder

Chopped Almonds and Pistachio

Could also use cashews, raisins or charoti but I’ve skipped those.

Butter to grease the baking dish

Method

In a thick bottom vessel boil the milk till it starts to thicken and generally reduce by about 1/4 the amount.

Add the cup of sugar and let it completely dissolve into the milk. Some people like to add a table spoon or so of condense milk as well you could do that too for extra sweetness and to hurry the thickening process. You can also taste the milk to see if it’s sweet enough, if not please add more sugar.

Once the milk has thickened and the sugar dissolved, let the entire mixture cool and come down to room temperature.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and add vanilla essence and the cardamon and nutmeg powder and keep it aside.

Only once the milk has cooled completely do you add the eggs to the milk. If you add the eggs to even luke warm milk the eggs will scramble and it will spoil your custard. ENSURE THE MILK IS ROOM TEMPERATURE.

Grease your baking dish with butter and pour the custard mixture in. I like to add a few of the chopped nuts at this stage, even if some sink to the bottom it’s ok it adds texture. You don’t have to add it now but I like to add some.

Bake in the over at 120 degrees for about 30 minutes. Half way through take out the custard and add all the chopped nuts on the top. If you find that while baking the top layer tends to burn too much just cover it and let it keep baking. It takes an approximate 30 – 40 minutes to cook. Just stick a knife in it like you could a cake, if it comes out clean the custard is ready.

Let it cool completely and then cut it into serving pieces. I would recommend once it cools and comes to room temperature to further chill it in the refrigerator. I think it tastes much better once it’s chilled for a couple of hours but you can eat it however you like.

How To Serve Lagan Nu Custard ?

Traditionally you would serve it at room temperature but truthfully it tastes wondering when chilled slightly. If you leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours it just firms up a little bit more and comes together beautifully. You don’t have to but I would recommend it.

Can I Freeze It ?

Yes but you don’t need to. It stays well in the fridge and will last up to 2 weeks. I wouldn’t really recommend freezing as when it defrosts it’s not entirely the same.