The Lagan nu Custard is another iconic dessert that Parsis are known for. While the version served at weddings is full of sultanas and garnished with cashews, almonds and pistachios, the lagan nu custard is also made in Parsi homes regularly as a Sunday treat for the family.
When I was in NZ, this was a big hit for the ‘bring a treat to work’ days when I had to bring something sweet for the colleagues. In fact, even the Head Chef at my catering company has been impressed with this recipe and to me that is the ultimate win for our Parsi food.
Easy to whip up, rich in taste and economical to make there is no excuse to not make it for your Mr. and the kiddies too! The best part? It can be served hot or cold, with ice-cream or with-out. For some real indulgence, you can even serve it with some Lagan nu Custard Icecream – an invention of mine!
I’ve got this recipe from Katy Dalal’s cookbook which I got from my mom as part of the wedding dowry and is perfect just the way it is. The adding of the condensed milk makes the custard come out creamy and friend’s who’ve had it claim its better than the ones they have tasted at Ideal Corner or even at Brittania so do give it a try!
First, bring the milk to a boil in a large non-stick pan. Make sure it’s non-stick or you will have fun cleaning it the next day.
Once the milk has boiled, remove from the heat and stir in the condensed milk & sugar. Cook over a slow fire. Sugar addicts – now is the time to taste the milk. If you feel you need more sugar, add some in. Now comes the fun part – you have to keep stirring this for a good 15 minutes until sugar is melted, the milk sticky and ivory in colour. Remove from the gas and cool.
While this is happening, in a steel bowl beat the eggs, vanilla, nutmeg and cardamom until frothy
Stir this mixture into the cooled milk. If the milk is too hot, your egg is going to get scrambled so don’t rush this step! Once it’s all mixed, grease a large baking dish and pour the mixture in. You can even bake the custard in individual pots like I’ve done above if you want to make these a little bit fancy.
Put the dish in a pre-heated oven and bake until golden (atleast an hour on about 220 degrees celcius). Garnish with the nuts and pop it back in the switched off oven.
Chill and serve – it tastes best the next day once the custard is set. Cut into small pieces and serve the family to ensure all eight people do indeed get served.
To make enough for 8 + leftovers you will need:
5 eggs
1.5 litres milk
1/3 tin condensed milk
300 gm sugar
1/2 teaspoon cardamom and nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla essence
Handful of boiled and sliced almonds/pistachios (optional)
Oh my gosh! This was such a hit with our guests and family!
Thank you.
Thank you so much Perzen. Today happens to be my birthday so that will be my treat for the day.
Blessings and best wishes,
Francis.
Thanks for stopping by Francis and for your beautiful comment. Here’s wishing you a very very happy birthday!
Hello Perzen,
What a great blog! I’m originally from Bombay and my family has always loved Parsi food! Used to wait for my Parsi friends’ navjotes (and now weddings) to eat it!!
Am living in London now – so it’s great to find this to try and recreate some of those tastes and memories.
I just wondered – in your Lagan Nu Custard recipe, what size tin of condensed milk do you mean? We get tins of varying sizes here, so was a bit unsure about the 1/3rd measurement. Also, what would you think about increasing the condensed milk quantity and just cutting out the sugar altogether?
Thanks and keep writing! 🙂
Hi Raahat,
Thanks so much for your lovely words and it makes me very happy to know you are reading this all the way in London – writing truly has a way of bringing two world together 🙂 The condensed milk is generally the 400ml tin you get in India so 1/3 is about 130ml. You can’t completely cut out the sugar but you can certainly reduce it if you increase the condensed milk. They both give different flavours to the dish so I would avoid cutting it out completely.
I have never tried any Parsi dish/recipe. Loved this dessert recipe and will definitely try this one.
HI,
can we make the same recipe in a microwave oven and what temperature and what mode
Hi Sarosh, you should be able to make this in a convection oven at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes. I don’t think it can be made in a normal microwave oven.
How big is the tin of condensed milk? In the US it is 14 oz. It looks lovely and I am hoping to have this instead of cake for my birthday. I have been hooked on Parsi food and so admire the Parsi people since I had a Parsi co-worker many years ago. Many thanks for your reply.
Hi Sammi,
Thanks for stopping by. The tin is 400ml so I don’t know how much it converts into in ounces but hopefully this helps. Do let me know how it turns out. P.S. You could also bake this in a cake mould if you line it with baking paper and then place in a water bath for even cooking.
Hi Perzen
Navroz Mubarak 🙂
Thanks so much for posting this recipe. Made it yesterday for Navroz 🙂 and my hubby wiped it clean!
One of the most perfect Parsi dishes I have managed to make. I have a Katy Dalal book but the quantities are too large for a family of 2 🙂 and these quantities were just right.
Now going to try many more recipes from the site.
Hi Meghna!
Thanks a lot for leaving a comment and the good wishes. Am so happy you enjoyed making this – its one of my favourite desserts 🙂
Hi.. I just had a query.. All recipes on Internet from Parsi person contain White bread in their ingredients.
Hi Sachin, you can always use multigrain bread. White is the bread that available on default in most people’s homes and that’s why its suggested on my blog.
Thanks a lot. Very good recipe turned out to be awesome..
For the condensed milk. 130 ml is about 4.4 u.s. ounces and about 4.6 u.k. ounces. Which is about 4 and 1/2 cups
Hope this helps those with the questions about the ml to ounces.
My mistake… 4.5 ounces is about 1/2 cup. Sorry
Hi
I just read your desert recipe of Lagan nun custard & going to try your way. Hope it comes out good. Thanks for it
Thank you Perzen
This turned out excellent with the exact taste of the caterer’s custard
Perviz