Saturday, February 27, 2016

Aate ki Pinniyan/Panjeeri (Punjabi dry fruit pinniyan)


Aate ki pinniyan.. OMG! I have a nostalgic memory of pinniyan right from my childhood. This was one thing that was religiously made in our home every winter season. And we used to go crazy and always just tried to eat the panjeeri as soon as it was prepared and me and my brother have burnt our hands and mouths may times while trying to eat it hot-hot, just removed from the stove top, in a hot kadhai. And of course mom and Nani used to get so angry.. After the balls were made, we kept eyeing where Nani is keeping the big box so one of us can sneak in (while the other remains on guard to see if mom/Nani is coming) and steal some of the pinnis.

Mom thought these would be good for my health as I was really thin in my childhood, but one day I was caught eating about 12 of these when I was just 6 years old! I became really sick and then the rule of "one pinni per day" came into being in our home for both me and my brother. That explains our need of stealing :D

Of course now there is no rule of eating these so I enjoyed fresh pinnis made by my Nani ji on my recent trip to India. She had prepared a lot for me and wanted me to carry back here as I do every year. But my husband is lactose intolerant and every time he's not able to taste them as it's difficult to find lactose free products in India. So I did not bring them this time instead I decided to make them myself from Home made lactose free ghee so that he can also enjoy them.

These are really easy to make and does not use a lot of ingredients. These are very rich and healthy because of the use of dry fruits in them. I took the recipe from Nani ji and tried these for the first time. Trust me, they came out really awesome and yummy, my first batch is already over as I'm typing this. You can eat this as it is (as panjeeri) or roll into balls and eat as pinniyan.

Now the detailed recipe:

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour: 2 big cups
Ghee: 2 big cups (I used home made ghee)
Powdered sugar: 1 big cup
(Use the same cup for measurement for all three).
Cashew nuts: 50 gm
Almonds: 50 gm
Walnuts: 25 gm
Desiccated coconut: 50 gm
Raisins: 50 gm
Poppy seeds: 25 gm
Isabgol: 25 gm
Pumpkin seeds (dried and roasted): 25 gm (optional)
Edible gum (gond): 50 gm
Green cardamom: 3


  1. Heat a heavy bottomed pan on low flame and add the ghee and the flour. Begin by roasting the flour in the ghee slowly. 
  2. Add little more ghee if it feels very dry. 
  3. Keep roasting until it begins to change color to a darker shade and gives out a wonderful aroma. You can check if the flour is done and not raw by taking out a little roasted flour and letting it cool a bit and tasting it. Otherwise roast a bit more until done. 
  4. By the time, in another pan, add 1 tsp. ghee and roast the edible gum. It will swell up and change color. Turn off the flame and let cool. Grind finely and keep aside. 
  5. When the flour is done and not tasting raw, add the edible gum to the mix and mix well. Roasting the flour is the most important and time-consuming part and after that it's really easy.
  6. Add the poppy seeds and 2 tsp. sugar. Mix everything well and stir for a minute. 
     
  7. Roughly pound all the dry fruits and pumpkin seeds and add to the mix. You can also grind them in the mixer and can adjust the quantity of dry fruits and skip some as well. Add the dry fruits to the mix. 
  8. Mix everything well and stir for about 2 minutes. 
     
  9. Now add the desiccated coconut and isabgol. Add the remaining sugar and mix everything really well. Stir for another minute. 
  10. Add the raisins and cardamom seeds and turn off the flame. Mix everything well to incorporate in the mix and your yummy panjeeri is ready!! 
  11. Let cool a little portion and taste the sugar. You can add more powdered sugar to the whole mix while it's still hot. 
  12. Check if you can roll into balls after it has cooled down: press and level a part of the panjeeri with a spatula and lift a little portion, if it has small cracks, then it needs more ghee. It can't be rolled in balls.
  13. Heat again on low flame and add more ghee. 
  14. Test by the same method, press and lift with the help of spatula. Now you can see there are no cracks that means the ghee is perfect and ready to roll in balls.  
  15. After it has cooled down a bit, roll it in small balls (pinniyan). If you still can't roll into balls, that means the ghee is less. Heat up the whole mix again on medium flame and add more ghee. Turn off the flame and roll in pinniyan when it's cooled down a bit. 
  16. Store in air-tight container at room temperature.
     


I'm sure you loved this easy and quick recipe. Didn't you? Please share your thoughts/comments/feedback in the comment section below. Also, don't forget to connect with me on Facebook and do send your feedback pictures so that I can publish them on the page.

Happy cooking! Happy eating! 

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