Recipe | Panjiri - A Nourishing Indian Dessert

The Panjiri is a winter specialty made in many houses in North and West India. This dessert is heavily laced with dried fruit and nuts and many other medicinal herbs to boost immune system and provide extra calories to sustain the extreme cold conditions there.
In many parts of India Panjiri is given to new mothers as an aid to increase lactation and to provide extra nourishment after delivery.

The gond crystals are normally deep fried in pure ghee (clarified butter) before making special ladoos which are given to pregnant ladies for its medicinal values in many home of Rajasthan. Panjiri has a long shelf life and stays good for 2-3 months.

Mom also adds roasted ground fenugreek seeds (methidana) and a few more medicinal herbs to this Panjiri . I remember hogging on this delicacy immediately after my delivery, all in the name of medicine ;-)

These are Gond crystals, a natural edible gum. Sap or resin extracted from the bark of Acacia tree hardens and form these yellow to brown coloured transparent crystals. The gum is used as binding agent in baking and has medicinal values. 

Ingredients;

• 1 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup jaggery powder
• 1/2 cup ghee
• 2 tbsp. dry coconut powder
• 2 tbsp. edible gum or gond

Three cups of assorted Nuts;

• Almonds
• Pistacio
• Walnuts
• Chaar Magaz
• Fox nuts or Makhane
• Poppy seeds
• Raisins

Spices;

• 1 tsp. cardamom powder
• 1 tsp. fennel powder
• 1 tsp. carom seeds
• 1/2 tsp dry ginger powder

Method; Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan. Fry edible gum (gond), stirring constantly, the crystals will puff up. Drain it on tissue paper.

Fry fox-nuts (makhane) in the same ghee till they turn golden in colour. Remove and place it on tissue paper.

You can roughly ground the gum and fox-nuts into coarse powder or leaves them whole.

Roughly chop all the nuts. Grate jaggery.

Add wheat flour in the same ghee and roast the flour on slow heat till it changes colour and it starts giving a nutty aroma. This will take about 10-15 minutes.

Add chopped nuts into the flour and roast for another few minutes.

Take the pan off flame, add roasted fox-nut, gum, dry coconut powder (chopra), grated jaggery and rest of the spices in it.

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