The Goodness of Nuts … PANJEERI
Our traditional recipes are not only delicious but are very nutritious .The Panjeeri, is a renowned energy booster dish, routinely given to new moms for long time. There are various myths about it such as:
I will gain more weight
If you are eating it you cant shed off extra fat
It is not suitable for baby
It causes high blood pressure and uncontrolled blood sugar
It has all the fattening ingredients
It is a food for olden time when good food supplements and multivitamins were not easily available
Why should we eat this old fashioned food
It is difficult to digest it It will cause jaundice of baby
Baby will have colic if I eat it
This blog will change your views about PANJEERI. The health benefits of various natural ingredients used in its preparation make it a first choice for puerperium. It is a high protein diet with enough calcium and magnesium, low sodium, carbohydrates with sustained release of sugar in blood, making it a safe food for hypertensive, cardiac, diabetic and kidney diseases. It has many anti-aging enzymes. It has antiseptic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. Thus it accelerates healing, overcomes vitamins and mineral deficiencies, and improves general well being.
Now, lets share its recipe and give a treat to us. There are various recipes for preparing it; today I will share my mother’s recipe of making Panjeeri. It has crunch of nuts and caramel, sweet of dates, full energy of nuts and health benefits of herbs. It is effortless to make and flavorful. This recipe is very light, healthy, and easily digestible.
You would need the following for making a perfect Panjeeri:
My Mother’s Recipe
| UTENSILS | |
| Non Stick Griddle | 1 |
| Non Stick Pan | 1 |
| Rock stone mortar and pestle set (Chopper and Blender could also be an alternative) | 1 |
| Small bowl | 6 |
| INGREDIENTS | |
| HALWA | |
| Semolina (Soji) | 150 gms |
| Clarified Butter (Desi Ghee) | 250 gms |
| SYRUP | |
| Sugar | 250 gms |
| Water | 150 ml |
| DRIED NUTS & HERBS | |
| Clarified Butter (Desi Ghee) | 1000 mg |
| Fox Nuts (Phool Mukhanay) | 250 gms |
| Gum Arabic (Gondian) | 250 gms |
| Char Magz (Water melon, pumpkin, cantaloupe and almond seeds) | 400 gms |
| Almonds (Badaam Garee) | 250 gms |
| Walnut (Akhrot Garee) | 250 gms |
| Peanuts (Mong Phulee Garee) | 150 gms |
| Pistachio (Pista Garee) | 150 gms |
| Raisins (Maewaa) | 250 gms |
| Cashew Nuts (Kaju) | 150 gms |
| Pine Nuts (Chalgozah) | 150 gms |
| Poppy Seed (Khashkhaash) | 150 gms |
| Coconut (Narial/ Khopra) | 150 gms |
| Sage Herb (Qamar Kass) | 50 gms |
| Aniseed (Sonf) | 50 gms |
| Dates (Khajoor) | 250 gms |
Preparation Method
A day before preperaring it:
- Make sure all the dryfruits and herbs are clean and absolutely dry .
- Clean and wash poppy seeds and dry in sunlight
- Put a nonsticking pan on low heat and roast Aniseed till it changes its color to light brown. Cool it and rub it gently, the covering will be removed and seed will pop out. Put the seeds in a bowl.
Preparing the Dried Fruits
- Take a non stick pan, pour 500 grams of clarified butter, heat it on medium flame till it starts boiling. Then reduce flame and start frying fox nuts. They will change color from pure white to light brown, fry till they become crunchy. You can be very sure about adequate cooking if you take out some of them, and try to break them, they will break easily. Take out all fox nuts in a seperate bowl, one fried.
- In the same left butter fry Gum Arabic, once they swell and size increases, take them out in a bowl.
- The left over butter, fry almonds till they are crispy and start splitting.
- Take a seperate non stick pan and pour 500 gm of clarified butter. Heat butter on medium flame till it starts to boil. Now reduce flame and fry Char Magz, four seeds, for 1 to 2 minutes. Take it out and put it in a seperate bowl.
- Fry Sage Herb (Qamar Kass) for 1 minute in butter left after frying of Char Magz.
- Mash all these fried dry fruits and herbs seperately in rock stone Mortar and pestle set, it gives the traditional taste and appearence of dish. Modern choppers can be used for coarse grinding, but be very careful, try not to make it powdery.
- Peanuts, Raisins, Cashew nuts, Pine nuts, Coconuts, Dates are not fried for this receipe. Mash them in rock mortar and pestle.
Preparing Halwa
- Take a seperate non stick pan.
- Add 150 gm Semolina and 250 gm clarified butter.
- Cook it on medium flame, till it is light brown.
Mixing
- Make sure to mix all ingredients when they are still warm, keep on mixing them CONTINUOUSLY, otherwise lumps will form.
- Now mix all the prepared ingredients (HERBS and Dried fruits) in a big pan.
- Add prepared poppy seeds and aniseeds to it.
- Add fried Semolina to it.
Sugar Syrup
- Add 250 gm sugar and 150 ml water in a non stick saucepan. Heat it on medium flame till it gets thick.
- Add 10 ml clarified butter to this syrup.
- Pour this HOT syrup in the pan of mixed nuts and herbs.
- Mix it continuously, till its evenly mixed.
- Decorate it with silver paper
Share it with your friends, family & Enjoy ... Dr. Ayesha Azam Khan