Pinni

It is rolled into a ball and keeps for weeks without refrigeration.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (milk).

Ingredients

• 250 g whole wheat flour
• 180 g ghee
• 200 g jaggery, grated
• 80 g khoya, thickened milk
• 80 g almonds, chopped
• 40 g raisins
• 6 cardamom pods, seeds crushed

Method

1. IT IS ROLLED INTO A BALL AND KEEPS FOR WEEKS WITHOUT REFRIGERATION. Its article says both, and the second is the reason for the first: PINNI IS ALSO A GENERAL TERM FOR DESSERTS OR SWEETS PREPARED IN A ROUND SHAPE, and PINNIS DO NOT GO BAD FOR A LENGTHY TIME AND DO NOT REQUIRE TO BE REFRIGERATED. A ball has the least surface for its size, there is no water in the mixture and the ghee seals it -- which is why this is the one sweet in the group you can make in quantity in November and still be eating in December.
2. THE KHOYA IS WHAT MAKES IT PINNI RATHER THAN A PLAIN WHEAT SWEET. Its article notes khoya is used FOR ADDED FLAVOUR. Crumbled in after the flour is roasted, and cooked for five minutes until it loses its wetness -- any moisture left is what would spoil it later.
3. THE FLOUR IS ROASTED AS LONG AS FOR ANY OF THESE. Fifteen minutes in ghee, to a nutty brown.
4. THE JAGGERY GOES IN OFF THE HEAT. As with the sukhdi on these pages, so it melts rather than caramelises.
5. IT IS ROLLED WARM, NOT HOT AND NOT COLD. Hot, it will not hold and it burns the hands; cold, it crumbles. There is a window of a few minutes and that is when all sixteen get made.
6. THEY ARE PRESSED FIRMLY, NOT PATTED. A ball that falls apart in the tin was rolled too lightly.
7. THEY ARE ROLLED IN CRUSHED CARDAMOM, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SPECIFIES. Pinnis are COVERED WITH CRUSHED CARDAMOM -- on the outside rather than mixed through.
8. ITS ARTICLE NAMES TWO REAL VARIETIES. Urad dal pinni, and alsi pinni which contains flaxseed. Both replace part of the wheat flour rather than being added to it.
9. IT IS SERVED WARM WITH SOMETHING HOT TO DRINK, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SAYS. Preferably warm, with tea or warm milk, and eaten mostly in winter.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes