Pinni : A North Indian Winter Speciality

I belong from the north of the country India, basically from Haryana. Now whenever people look and explore the diversified culture of this country, especially related to food, Punjab is still famous for the butter-dripped, heavily intense in flavors Punjabi cuisine with flag-post dishes such as butter garlic naan, dal makhni and butter chicken or butter paneer masala. But, Haryana and the food that is consumed here is seldomly highlighted in the food culture of this country despite being heavily influenced by the lifestyle of people here, just like any other state. Since both the states are next to each other, they influence each-others eating habits, as can be seen in the day to day eating habits. Now, putting emphasis on the food culture of Haryana, which I got the opportunity to explore more especially after my marriage, everyone knows that it is heavily laden on consumption of dairy based products such as milk, ghee (clarified butter), dahi (indigenous yoghurt) and paneer (cottage cheese). Yet, it is seldomly discussed or highlighted how the meals are based not on wheat or much on rice but the staple grains are bajra (pearl millet), ragi (finger millet), makki (corn) and chana (ground chickpea). Yes, the grains that are highlighted in the world today for being intense in fibers, proteins and other nutrients and have less starch in comparison to wheat or rice, have always been the ‘desi khuraak’ (staple diet) as it is called here. The state known for its extensive agriculture as the major source of occupation, these intense ingredients along with the combination of butter, ghee or milk provide wholesome nutrients to the body, helping people work for longer hours in the fields due to being full in stomach for long.

I will discuss more about the cultural practices of the state as I get to explore more about them in my upcoming blogs but for today, let’s highlight a specialty of this state, now again – close to what is being followed in Punjab as well, ‘Pinni’ or ‘Panjiri’. A complete dish in itself, this more like an intense pack of ingredients that provide nutrients, energy and warmth to the body in the cold, gut-wrenching weather of this state. ‘Panjiri’ got its name because it was composed of five ingredients – whole wheat flour (atta), sugar, ghee, dry fruits and herbal gums (gond). A version of this dish is especially made during Krishna Janamastmi as a ‘prasadam’, heavily laden with another ingredient – dry coriander powder, but that is a separate version in itself. The dish I’ll be sharing with you today is a winter staple in almost every household in Haryana and Punjab, made either at home or gotten from the market. This recipe is my mother in-law’s recipe and has more nutritious ingredients according to Ayurveda, because she herself keeps on exploring the domain and I get an opportunity to learn!

Ingredients:

1.  Ghee – 2.5 parts

2. Whole wheat flour (atta) – 2 parts

3. Chickpea flour (chana atta) – 0.5 parts

4.  Flaxseeds (alsi)

5. Pumpkin Seeds

6. Dry fruits (almonds, cashews, walnuts)

7. Melon seeds

8.  Brown pepper/ white pepper

9. Dry ginger powder (saunth)

10. Edible gum (gond)

11.  Red Gum (Kamarkas / Dak kani) (optional)

12.  Poppy seeds (khaskhas)

13. Sugar (Desi Khand)

14. Water

Preparation:

Stage 1 (separate cooking of some ingredients):

1. Sieve both the flours in separate vessels. Sieving removes the lumps and any other impurity from the flours.

2. Roast the flax-seeds in a separate vessel until the popping sound comes. Cool them properly and then pound them with a light hand just to remove the harder outer shell from them (only some of the flax-seeds will have them and not all).

3. Grind the dry fruits separately – almonds, cashews and walnuts in the mixer with on a pulse mode so that they only get a powder like consistency and not coarse or start leaving their oils.

4. Grind the red gum (kamarkas) in the mixer so as to form a powder.

5. Fry the edible gum (gond) pieces so that they fry up (they’ll pop up) and become edible for consumption. After that cool them and then grind them as well in the mixer to form a find powder.

6.  Cook the poppy seeds (khaskhas) in ghee in a separate pan/ vessel until they change their color to slight brown. After cooling, also grind them in the mixer and form a paste like consistency.

Stage 2 (final cooking)

1. Add ghee in a vessel with a huge open mouth so that it is easy for you to use spatula for constant stirring during the whole process. Heat the ghee until it is hot.

2. Once the ghee reaches the temperature hot enough to cook anything in it, add whole wheat flour (atta) into this. Constantly stir so that it doesn’t form lumps.

3. As the whole wheat flour starts to form a slurry like consistency in the ghee, add the chickpea flour and start rotating and mixing it in the already made slurry.

4. Keep rotating and mixing the ingredients slowly so that it starts slowing the roasting process. The main purpose is to roast the flours in the fat so as to cook them.

5. Now add the pumpkin seeds. Constantly stir so that the whole mixture doesn’t get stuck to the bottom of the vessel and burn. After sometime, you’ll observe small bubbles at the top of the mixture signifying cooking.

6. Now add the walnuts followed by the cashews and then almonds into the mixture. They are added in the way in the amount they release their oils – walnuts releasing maximum of its oils so on.

7. After adding the nuts, add the ground red gum (kamarkas) followed by the melon seeds. Constantly stir the whole mixture on a slow to medium flam throughout the cooking process.

8. Now add the brown/ white pepper and dry ginger powder (saunth) and keep on stirring the whole mixture. By this point, the mixture will start to thicken, the roasted aroma of the cooked flours will start to come from the vessel and the consistency will get harder.

9. Now add the ground cooked gum and poppy seeds (khaskhas). Keep on stirring until it becomes more tightened in the consistency due to cooking of the flours and the whole mixture soaking up all the ghee present in the vessel. If it feels too dry, add a little bit of ghee to keep it in the stirring consistency and not completely dry.

10. Now as the process is going on, I a separate vessel, heat the oil and add the sugar/ jaggery powder. Mix well and heat till all the sugar/ jaggery powder is dissolved in water. You can add the sugar solution at this stage or you can bring the mixture to a boil and then add it to the flour-nuts mixture.

11. During the addition, keep the flame at the lowest and slowly add the sugar/ jaggery water solution into the mixture with constant stirring. Constantly stir for even distribution of the sugar/ jaggery in the whole mixture.

12. Keep on stirring on low flame till the whole mixture gets dried up, almost like a powdery consistency. Now at this point, if you want to make pinnis/ laddus out of the whole mixture, keep it a little pasty so that the laddus/ pinnis can stick together. If you want to consume it as a panjiri powder, dry it out completely till all the water is evaporated.

13. Cool it and then you can consume it as such, if it is dry otherwise make small laddus/ pinnis by hand for consumption throughout the winters.

This recipe is special since it contains so many additional nutrient rich products. Usually, the pinnis are made traditionally with just whole wheat flour which is wheat (endosperm) flour with some part of bran. But addition of chickpea flour induces many health benefits such as boosting of heart health by lowering LDL cholesterol levels and regulating the blood sugar levels in the body. After that, seeds such as roasted flax seeds, pumpkin seeds and melon seeds add additional antioxidants to the body along with other health benefits such as boosting the immunity, strengthening of bones, improving digestive health and heart health. Addition of dry fruits always is encouraged in sweets not only to bring about the nuttiness and crunch but also to increase the nutrient profile of the food product to be consumed. Addition of brown/ white pepper improves the digestion, provides warmth, adds antioxidants to the diet, prevents gas and has anti-inflammatory properties to name some. Further, dry ginger also improves digestion, improves appetite, soothes the stomach and keeps the respiratory tract healthy, a requirement in the winters especially when blocked noses is a daily sight to see. Poppy seeds provide a sound sleep, boosts bone health and aids in digestion since some of the ingredients consumed here such as flour and ghee are heavy on the stomach. Lastly, the gums used here boost the stamina, give body warmth, boosts immunity, is good for joints, is enriched in fiber, protein, calcium and magnesium and strengthens the bones and is good for gut health.

Now this is a superfood in itself! It can be stored for the winter months, i.e., for about 2 months in closed containers on the shelf and can be consumed once a day along with milk or as such. Since in winters the metabolism of the body is slow, it is usually suggested to consume this instead of heavy fat laden winter products to keep us warm, healthy and satiated for a longer duration of time. Do try this at home with any amount of ingredients available in this recipe and you’ll have yourself a super-winter-food treat!