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Delicious desserts: Baisakhi edition
Baisakhi is celebrated by visiting gurdwaras, indulging in some lip-smacking delicacies, and dancing to the tunes of dhol. Try these traditional Punjabi desserts at home: Badam Panjiri, Gulgule, and Gajrela.
Baisakhi is the time to visit gurdwaras, followed up by indulging in some lip-smacking delicacies and dancing to the tunes of dhol. Also known as the harvest festival or the Sikh New Year, the highlight of the festival are scrumptious desserts. So, ahead of the festival, we bring you some easy and traditional Punjabi desserts to try at home and impress your friends and family:
Badam Panjiri
INGREDIENTS
1 cup almonds, 2 tbsp ghee, 2 tbsp crushed gond (edible gum), 2 tbsp fox nuts, 5-6 cashews, 5-6 unsalted pistachios, 1 tbsp musk melon seeds, ½ tbsp flax seeds, 2 tbsp thinly sliced dried coconut, 1 tsp white poppy seeds, 3tsp dried ginger powder, ½ cup powdered sugar
METHOD
Grind almonds to corse powder. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a broad bottom pan over medium heat. Add gond and roast till it’s puffed up. Add makhana to the pan and roast until crisp. Add 1 tsp ghee to the pan and roast cashews, pistachios, melon seeds, flax seeds, and coconut until slightly brown. Roast poppy seeds until slightly brown. Let all roasted ingredients cool. Grind the roasted ingredients to make a coarse powder. Heat remaining ghee in the pan. Add almond flour and fry until slightly brown. Cool the flour and add ground dry fruits, ginger powder, and sugar. Mix well.
By chef Rajinder Kaur, of Sadda Virsa
Gulgule
INGREDIENTS
½ cup chopped bananas, 6 tbsp sugar or jaggery, 1 cup wheat flour, 1 tsp fennel seeds, ¼ tsp cardamom powder, 1 pinch salt, ½ tsp baking powder, 8 to 11 tbsp water, oil for deep frying
METHOD
Mash and mix chopped bananas and sugar in a bowl. Add the wheat flour, fennel seeds, cardamom powder and salt to the mixture. Add water. Make a batter that is neither too thick nor too thin. In a kadhai heat oil. Drop spoonfuls of the batter in the hot oil and fry on medium flame. When one side is light golden, gently turn over and fry the other side. Serve hot with tea.
By chef Sandeep Verma, of Guru Nanak Sweets
Gajrela
INGREDIENTS
1kg grated carrots, 2 cups milk, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp cardamom powder, 4 tbsp ghee, 3 tbsp each sliced almonds, walnut and pistachio, ½ cup Khoya
METHOD
Boil milk in a kadhai and add the grated carrots in it. Cook on low flame and keep stirring. When most of the milk dries up, add sugar, cardamom powder and 3 tbsp ghee and mix well. In another pan, add 1 tbsp ghee and fry the dry fruits until slightly brown. Add them into the halwa and mix well.
By Gulshan Brar, food blogger
