Receta Panjiri

by Nisha

The most exciting week of this month's Blogging marathon. One of our themes was "Ingredient through mail". Yeah, we had to swap ingredients with whomever we were paired. Since it is geographically convenient, I was paired with Sapna who resides in Europe as well.  "Sometimes bad things have to happen before good things can".  The same, occurred. Unfortunately, Sapna's mail got lost somehwere and I didnt get it. More than the ingredients, I missed her extra goodies that she had sent along with it. Luckily, I was able to source her secret ingredient locally. Thanks to her I was able to try rare, traditional recipes from North India.  The ingredient through the mail is - Gondh | Edible Gum. This is not a common ingredient used in the Tamil cuisine. But it has such amazing medicinal benefits and it is highly beneficial for lactating mothers. It is commonly used in Gujarathi, Marathi, Rajasthani and Punjabi cuisine, especially in sweets like sheera, ladoo and Panjiri. It also provides heat to the body and hence more often had during winter times.  Today's recipe is mainly made with Wheat flour and Gond. It is a mix of various flours and lavishly added nuts and dry fruits. There are so many variations to this recipe and it can be easily altered to one's liking. I adapted my recipe from Sailus Food. I liked her ingredients combination and went ahead with it. Feel free to add or omit any of the flours other than wheat flour (since it is the base flour). Make your own combination and enjoy.  Panjiri A mix of various healthy flour and nuts Prep Time: | Cook Time: | Total Time: | Serves: 4 Cups Ingredients 3/4 Cup Whole wheat flour 1/4 Cup Besan | Chickpea Flour 1/4 Cup Sooji | Semolina 1/4 Cup grated Kopara | dry coconut 2 Tbsp Gond (Edible Gum) 1/2 Cup Sugar 1/2 Cup Nuts (Almonds, cashews, pistachios) 1/4 Cup Ghee, divided 1/2 tsp Fennel powder 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder A pinch of Nutmeg powder Instructions In a Kadai | Non stick pan, add ghee. Once it is hot, add the Gond. Keep stirring until it puffs well and changes to a golden brown colour on a slow flame. Remove it and keep aside.  In the same pan, add some more ghee and roast the wheat flour, besan, sooji and grated coconut separately. Roast them on a slow medium flame until it changes to a slight golden brown colour and releases its aroma. Keep aside.  Then roast the nuts and raisins on the same pan.  Take half of the nuts, dry coconut, sugar and gond, powder it nicely.  Mix this with the rest of the flour in a wide bowl. Add the remaining nuts, raisins, fennel powder, nutmeg powder, dry ginger and cardamom powder. Mix it well.  Check for sugar. If needed add some more.  Combine everything well and serve as such.  Notes This can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 weeks.  Add the ghee in divided quantities and as and when required.  Feel free to add or omit any of the flours other than wheat flour (since it is the base flour). Make your own combination and enjoy.  Cooking time may slightly vary depending on how low the flame is. Keep the flame in such a way that it does not burn the flour while roasting.  Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 73 here.