Lohri Recipes

Gajak
Ingredients:
10 Almonds
10 Cashewnuts
20-25 Peanuts
1/2 Cup Walnuts Shelled.
1/4 Cup White Melon Seeds Shelled (Kharbuje Ki Giri)
1 Cup Sugar
1 TableSpoon Ghee
6 Green Cardomoms (Elaichi)
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice.
1/4 Boond Kewara Essence (Alternative : Vanilla Essence)
Khoya/Mewa (dough made from cooking milk for hours)

Method:
Melt the sugar on the fire.
Put in Lemon Juice, khoya, kharbuje ki giri,kewara Essence in the melted sugar and make the mixture of dropping consistency.
Mix ghee in the Sugar mixture.
Add all the dryfruits in the mixture until they are evenly spread.
Set the Mixture Flat in a Thali preferably on a plastic thali and Cut it into Round , square or rectangular pieces.
Allow it to cool or eat it fresh. The Gajak or Burfee is ready.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb Puffed rice (murmura, churmura)
1/2 lb Jaggery
1/2 cup Roasted peanuts
1/2 cup Dry coconut flakes
a few Cardamoms

Method:
Take a large cooking pan add jaggery and enough water till it gets immersed and boil till it forms to thick consistency.
To ensure that this syrup had reached the correct consistency, add a few drops into a bowl containing water and it shall solidify immediately.
Add puffed rice, roasted peanuts, dry coconut flakes and cardamom powder and stir in all the ingredients. Let it cool for a couple of minutes.
Grease your palm with oil or ghee and roll into balls.

Pinnie

Ingredients:
250 gms. wheatflour
250 gms. ghee
250 gms. sugar ground
3-4 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. cardamom powder

Method:
Melt ghee in a heavy pan.
Add, flour and cook on med/low flame.
Stir continuously, till med. brown.
When aroma exudes, and properly browned, take off fire.
Spread in a large plate.
Cool till a shade above room temperature.
Sprinkle cardamom powder and sugar.
Mix well. Sprinkle milk.
Mix again and form tight fist shaped pinnies.
This is done by taking some mixture and pressing in the fist.

Shengdana Chikki
Ingredients:
1 cup groundnuts, skinned, roasted, pounded roughly
3/4 cup sticky jaggery
2 tbsp clarified butter (ghee)

Method:
Heat jaggery in 1/2 cup water till the syrup is hard ball consistency.
Test its consistency by putting a drop in cold water -it should remain firm.
Add groundnuts. Grease a board and spread the groundnut-jaggery mixture.
Roll flat to 1 cm thickness. Cut into squares when sufficiently cool and hardened.
Store in a container lined with butter paper.

Kheer
Ingredients:
3 Litres Milk
100 Grams Rice
100 Grams Sugar
Kesar (Saffron)
Elaichi (Cardomom)
Badam (Almonds)
2 Tbsp Water

Method:
Boil Milk.
Add rice to the milk when boiled.
Stir the milk until it gets thick and of dropping consistency.
Allow the milk to cool.
When the milk mixture is at room temperature, Add Saffron, and Sugar to it and mix it well. The Milk mixture will get a good colour.
Top it with Almonds and Cardomom Powder.

Peanut Gajak
Ingredients:
1 or 2 pieces of gurh (jaggery)
Peanuts to taste
2 tsp. Ghee

Method:
1. Melt Gurh with ghee over low heat.
2. Add peanuts slowly.
3. Stir for a few minutes.
4. Pour this into greased pan and cool over night.
5. Now, break into pieces and relish it with family members and dear ones.
Recipe by Manveer Sihota