Panjiri is a North Indian sweet mixture. It is healthy, nutritious, and has a savory taste. This is a traditional panjiri recipe from my Kumaoni family made with dry fruits, edible gum (gond), and spices.
About Panjiri
Panjiri is a popular sweet across North India. It is considered a good nutritional supplement for the brutal winters and nursing mothers.
Panjiri helps nursing mothers in lactation, builds immunity, and boosts energy. It is more like a herbal energy bar.
It has plenty of dry fruits, warming spices, and herbal gums. Hence, the taste of a panjiri is sweet, and savory with a hint of spiciness.
Every family has its own heirloom panjiri recipe passed on from one generation of mothers to another.
Kumaoni Prasad Panjiri
In many regions of India, to celebrate Krishna Janmashtami, panjiri is made as a prasad (sacred sweet).
Krishna Janmashtmi is the birthday of Lord Krishna. Hence, panjiri is made for the birth mother of the lord as a sacred offering.
My family makes this Pahadi Style Dhaniya Panjiri as a Janmashtmi sweet. No flour is added to the Kumaoni Prasad Ki Panjiri. It is a gluten-free sweet.
The flavor comes from dry ginger powder (saunth), carom seeds (ajwain), and coriander seeds. A pinch of turmeric is added to provide beautiful golden color to the Pahadi Panjiri.
Then with thick sugar syrup, the panjiri is molded into fudge-like squares. This is an optional step. After the festival, you can relish leftover panjiri with a hot cup of tea as a sweet treat.
Ingredients Required
Lotus seed s – also known as foxnuts or makhana
Desiccated Coconut – you can use packaged or fresh desiccated coconut.
Dry Fruits – almonds, pistachio, peanuts
Edible Gum – herbal gum or the gond is the key ingredient in this panjiri recipe
Spices – whole coriander seeds (dhaniya), carom seeds (ajwain/omam), dry ginger powder (saunth), turmeric powder (optional), green cardamom powder (elaichi powder)
Ghee – if you want to make it vegan panjiri, use coconut oil
Sweetener – add only a tablespoon of sugar if you are planning to add sugar syrup. If not, then add ¼ cup powdered sugar.
Sugar Syrup – it is optional to give panjiri a barfi/fudge-like shape. You can make it like a pinni ladoo or as a mixture.
My Tried & True Tips
This is a Pahadi style panjiri recipe . hence, the method and ingredients are slightly different from the Punjabi Panjiri.
Make sure to sun-dry all the spices, dry fruits, and herbal gum a day or two before making the panjiri. This process increases the shelf life of the sweet.
Do not dry roast the spices for too long especially carom seeds. Else, they will taste bitter.
Fry ingredients in batches and separately as suggested in the panjiri recipe and not all together.
Panjiri always has a coarse texture . Hence, do not make a fine powder of the ingredients.
Adding turmeric is optional. In Pahadi style panjiri, turmeric is a must ingredient.
If you are not adding sugar syrup, add ¼ cup powdered white sugar or jaggery powder. Reduce the amount of sugar if planning to add syrup.
After grinding ingredients to a coarse powder, you can serve panjiri as a mixture. If you are keen to make panjiri ladoo or barfi, then only add sugar syrup.
You can store panjiri for a month in an airtight container.
More Indian Festival Recipes
Ghujia
Suji Halwa
Mawa Modak
Vrat Ki Kheer
Gulgule (Meetha Pua)
Lauki Ki Kheer
If you try this recipe and love it, please leave a comment and a rating. This helps us grow and reach other food lovers like you.
Ingredients
- ▢ 200 gram (1 Cup) lotus nuts (foxnuts or makhana)
- ▢ 100 gram (½ Cup) desiccated coconut
- ▢ ¼ Cup almonds
- ▢ ¼ Cup pistachio
- ▢ ¼ Cup peanuts
- ▢ 1 tablespoon edible or herbal gum (gond)
- ▢ 2 teaspoon coriander seeds (dhaniya)
- ▢ 1 teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
- ▢ 2 teaspoon dry ginger powder (saunth)
- ▢ ½ teaspoon turmeric powder (optional)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- ▢ 2 teaspoon cardamom powder (elaichi powder)
- ▢ 4 tablespoon ghee
Ingredients for the sugar syrup
- ▢ 2 Cup sugar
- ▢ ½ Cup water
Instructions
- To prepare the Panjiri, a day before sun-dry all the dry fruits and edible gum. Store in an air-tight container.
- In a pan dry roast ajwain and coriander seeds till the aroma is released. This usually takes 20 – 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and grind to a coarse powder in a mixer. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside.
- Heat one tablespoon ghee in a heavy bottom kadhai over medium flame. Add gond/gum, fry till it pops up and expands in size absorbing the ghee. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Heat remaining ghee in the same skillet. Fry together lotus seeds, peanuts, dry fruits till they are crisp and crunchy. Turn off the heat. Transfer to a plate. Let the roasted nuts cool down a bit.
- Now in mixer make a coarse powder of roasted lotus seeds, dry fruits, peanuts, fried gond. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add desiccated coconut, cardamom powder, ginger powder, turmeric powder, powdered sugar, coriander seeds powder. Combine all together. Panjiri is ready for prasad.
- To make sugar syrup, heat sugar and water in a saucepan. Stir till the sugar dissolves.
- Let the sugar syrup simmer over medium heat. We need thick 1 to 2 thread consistency sugar syrup. A little bit thicker sugar syrup than what we need for Gulab Jamun .
- Keep on checking the sugar syrup if it has reach the desired consistency.
- Grease a large square baking sheet with a teaspoon of ghee.
- Once sugar syrup is ready, turn off the heat. Add the powdered ingredients mixture in the warm sugar syrup. Stir to combine.
- Spread the mixture in the baking tray of an inch thickness. Using a spatula or lightly wet fingers even out the surface of the mixture.
- At this stage, you can keep the tray in the fridge to get set or leave at room temperature as well. I usually keep it in the fridge for 15 – 20 minutes. Once panjiri is set, using a sharp knife cut into squares.
- Store panjiri in an airtight container. The shelf life of Panjiri is usually a month or so.
Recipe Notes:
- This is a Pahadi style panjiri recipe . Adding turmeric is optional. In Pahadi style panjiri, turmeric is a must ingredient.
- Make sure to sun-dry all the spices, dry fruits, and the herbal gum a day or two before making the panjiri.
- Do not dry roast the spices for too long especially carom seeds. Else, they will taste bitter.
- Fry ingredients in batches and separately as suggested in the panjiri recipe and not all together.
- If you are not adding sugar syrup, then add ¼ cup powdered sugar in the panjiri mixture.
- Do not make a fine powder of the ingredients. Keep them coarse.
- You can store panjiri for a month at room temperature in an airtight container.
Nutrition
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Pahadi Panjiri Recipe
Equipment
- Blender
- Heavy Bottom Kadhai
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 200 gram (1 Cup) lotus nuts (foxnuts or makhana)
- 100 gram (½ Cup) desiccated coconut
- ¼ Cup almonds
- ¼ Cup pistachio
- ¼ Cup peanuts
- 1 tablespoon edible or herbal gum (gond)
- 2 teaspoon coriander seeds (dhaniya)
- 1 teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
- 2 teaspoon dry ginger powder (saunth)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder (optional)
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon cardamom powder (elaichi powder)
- 4 tablespoon ghee
Ingredients for the sugar syrup
- 2 Cup sugar
- ½ Cup water
Instructions
- To prepare the Panjiri, a day before sun-dry all the dry fruits and edible gum. Store in an air-tight container.
- In a pan dry roast ajwain and coriander seeds till the aroma is released. This usually takes 20 - 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and grind to a coarse powder in a mixer. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside.
- Heat one tablespoon ghee in a heavy bottom kadhai over medium flame. Add gond/gum, fry till it pops up and expands in size absorbing the ghee. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Heat remaining ghee in the same skillet. Fry together lotus seeds, peanuts, dry fruits till they are crisp and crunchy. Turn off the heat. Transfer to a plate. Let the roasted nuts cool down a bit.
- Now in mixer make a coarse powder of roasted lotus seeds, dry fruits, peanuts, fried gond. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add desiccated coconut, cardamom powder, ginger powder, turmeric powder, powdered sugar, coriander seeds powder. Combine all together. Panjiri is ready for prasad.
- To make sugar syrup, heat sugar and water in a saucepan. Stir till the sugar dissolves.
- Let the sugar syrup simmer over medium heat. We need thick 1 to 2 thread consistency sugar syrup. A little bit thicker sugar syrup than what we need for Gulab Jamun .
- Keep on checking the sugar syrup if it has reach the desired consistency.
- Grease a large square baking sheet with a teaspoon of ghee.
- Once sugar syrup is ready, turn off the heat. Add the powdered ingredients mixture in the warm sugar syrup. Stir to combine.
- Spread the mixture in the baking tray of an inch thickness. Using a spatula or lightly wet fingers even out the surface of the mixture.
- At this stage, you can keep the tray in the fridge to get set or leave at room temperature as well. I usually keep it in the fridge for 15 - 20 minutes. Once panjiri is set, using a sharp knife cut into squares.
- Store panjiri in an airtight container. The shelf life of Panjiri is usually a month or so.
Notes
- This is a Pahadi style panjiri recipe . Adding turmeric is optional. In Pahadi style panjiri, turmeric is a must ingredient.
- Make sure to sun-dry all the spices, dry fruits, and the herbal gum a day or two before making the panjiri.
- Do not dry roast the spices for too long especially carom seeds. Else, they will taste bitter.
- Fry ingredients in batches and separately as suggested in the panjiri recipe and not all together.
- If you are not adding sugar syrup, then add ¼ cup powdered sugar in the panjiri mixture.
- Do not make a fine powder of the ingredients. Keep them coarse.
- You can store panjiri for a month at room temperature in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Thinking what to do with leftover naan bread? Make Naan Pizza. You will surely thank me for this 10 – minute naan pizza recipe. It’s super quick, easy, and a fun family dinner idea. Naan layered with rich tomato sauce, favorite toppings, and gooey cheese tastes simply divine.
What is Naan Pizza?
Naan is a popular Indian flatbread. You will often notice it on the menu of an Indian restaurant or on the bread aisle of a supermarket.
Pizza made with cooked naan bread as a base is known as Naan Pizza. In recent years, naan pizza has become a trending fusion pizza recipe.
The base of naan bread is super easy to make or you can grab the readymade one. Layer it with your favorite spicy toppings, bake and a pizza is ready in 15 minutes.
The Naan Bread
It is utterly simple to make naan bread at home. It is one of the easiest Indian flatbread made with all-purpose flour and yeast.
You can follow my easiest whole wheat stovetop naan recipe that does not require any yeast to make naan at home.
Or use packaged, ready to eat naan bread available in most of the grocery stores or supermarkets worldwide.
The soft, pillowy texture of the naan bread makes a perfect crust for an artisanal pizza.
How To Make Naan Pizza
Base: The crust of this pizza is the pre-cooked naan bread . You can make the bread from scratch at home for the pizza base or use the leftover ones.
Sauce : My homemade pizza sauce is the best. It is made with fresh tomatoes, and so easy to make. If you have a time crunch, open the bottle of your favorite pizza sauce and spread it generously on naan bread.
Toppings : May I suggest you try shredded butter chicken for the toppings. I absolutely love the fusion food combinations such as this one – butter chicken , cheese, and naan .
Apart from fusion flavors, you can top naan pizza with roasted veggies, olives, salami, meat, fresh herbs, capers, eggs, seafood , and the possibilities are endless.
Cheese : Mozarella is my first choice when it comes to pizza. Be generous while adding cheese, after all, pizza tastes so much better with extra cheese.
Baking: This pizza needs only 10 minutes of baking time. The naan base is already pre-cooked. All we need to crisp it a bit while baking and melt the cheese to gooey goodness.
More Easy Bread Recipes For You:
Garlic Focaccia Bread
Eggless Banana Bread
Date Nut Bread
If you try this recipe and love it, please leave a Star Rating. This helps us grow and reach many other food lovers like you, who are looking for a perfect tried and tested recipe.
Ingredients
- ▢ 4 cooked naan (see recipe)
- ▢ ½ Cup pizza sauce ( see recipe )
- ▢ 1 Cup shredded butter chicken (see recipe)
- ▢ ¼ Cup sliced onion
- ▢ ¼ Cup diced capsicum
- ▢ ¼ Cup sliced green olives
- ▢ 1 Cup cherry tomato, cut into halves
- ▢ 2 cup shredded mozzarella or any other pizza cheese
- ▢ 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- First prepare the naan or you can use readymade naan as well to make the pizza.
- Preheat oven at 220 degrees Celcius. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the naans on the baking sheet with the charred side facing upwards.
- Spread pizza sauce equally over the naans. Make sure each naan is covered nicely with the sauce. Sprinkle each naan with cheese, capsicum, onion, olives, tomato, and chicken.
- Transfer baking sheets to the oven, middle rack. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is nicely melted and the crust is a bit crisp.
- Once the Naan Pizza is out of the oven, drizzle extra virgin olive oil, season with pizza seasoning of your choice (chili flakes, oregano, fresh basil).
- Serve Naan Pizza immediately.
Recipe Notes:
- You can use any other flavor of shredded or roasted chicken for the topping.
- You can use the readymade naan bread or make a fresh batch from scratch at home.
- This pizza needs only 10 – 15 minutes of baking time. The naan base is already pre-cooked.
Nutrition
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