Panjiri

Panjiri is an authentic Punjabi sweet that is made during festivals for bhog. Very easy to make and extremely tasty. I had this when I went to meet my sister in law’s family in Ludhiana for the first time. At that time I did not know of this dish but had heard of it, so I bought it from a local halwai and whoa! It was heavenly and rich! It is in powder form and had with a spoon after food or just as an energiser during the day. It is loaded with healthy ingredients.

Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg Wheat flour

• 1/2 kg ghee

• 100 gms Broken almonds

• 200 gms Dried melon seeds

• 100 gms Broken cashew nuts

• 100 gms Raisins

• 1/2 tbsp Dry ginger powder

• 1/2 cup Makhana or lotus seeds

• 1 kg Sugar

• 100 gms Edible gum

Instructions

1. In a pan take ghee and heat

2. Fry the gondh well till it blooms and when you crush it, it gets powdered. Powder this in a blender and keep aside.

3. In the same pan add ghee, fry makhana well to make it crisp and crush this coarsely with a rolling pin

4. Fry the melon seeds, almonds and cashew nuts one by one and keep aside (raisins need not be fried)

5. Add the wheat flour and roast it till it becomes light brown and you get a nice aroma. Keep aside and cool.

6. Add the sugar and all the dry fruits including lotus seeds, gondh, ginger powder and mix well

Notes

• The cashew nuts, almonds and lotus seeds can be roasted and added whole, but I like it slivered

• You can add cardamom powder but I like the ghee + wheat flour combo as it is tasty!