I am extremely fond of eating hearty breakfasts (toast and a cup of coffee just aren't enough) and I love to draw inspiration from a multitude of cuisines.
Granola is one such dish. Remember a few years ago when granola was as popular as kale? It was cool to eat granola and the chunkier and crunchier the better.
There was a point where I found myself knee-deep in granola, literally. I was buying artisanal granola; friends were giving me their homemade versions and I was also making it myself – I even had to create a separate shelf for my granola in my pantry. Yes, some may have called it an (unhealthy) obsession.
I was also one of those granola-fiends who ate it in a cafe and pretended it was a healthier breakfast option than a bacon and egg sandwich. But well-made granola relies on glorious butter to give it its crunch and caramelised aroma.
During my search to make the ultimate granola recipe, I discovered a north Indian dish called panjiri (also spelt panjeeri). It has made me a better granola maker.
While it's not strictly granola, it's hard to not shake off the similarities. A simple panjiri recipe is made with whole wheat flour, dried fruits and lots of different nuts. (I love granola with whole nuts and chewy glace and dried fruit.)
My Punjabi chef friends in Australia tell me that each family has their own special panjiri recipe and it's eaten during the winter for warmth and comfort. But that's not to say that it can't be eaten any time you feel a panjiri craving strike...and it does happen.
For Harry Mangat, chef of Melbourne popup Biji Dining, his grandmother's panjiri is the ultimate comfort food.
"I eat it with warm milk in winter and cold milk in summer. My parents had it with chai but there is no rule," Mangat tells SBS Food. "You can eat panjiri whenever you want. A midnight sugar snack sounds good to me too."
If you're a fan of spiced-up granola, you'll love panjiri. Rather than using plain-old oats, panjiri mixes together atta flour (whole wheat flour) and Indian spices, which are slowly cooked in ghee and jaggery (cane sugar).
The beauty of panjiri is that each family has their own recipe and it truly reflects the person who makes it.
"Every household's recipe is different," says Mangat. "Some make it with semolina and no flour. Some add more nuts, some don't, some add less ghee, and others like it sweeter. My mum's uncle doesn't even use flour or semolina. He makes it with alsi and adds gond [edible gum]. You can even use besan and make it gluten free."
There is no rule how you make it, there is no rule when you can or cannot eat it.
For Parth Tuli, a young chef in Melbourne, panjiri is the most underrated dessert.
"My earliest memory of panjiri is my grandma giving it to me with warm milk and my last memory is almost a year ago when she came to Australia with a kilo of it. My housemates and I devoured it in a day," says Tuli, a chef at Melbourne's Atlas Dining. "My great-grandpa had a sweet shop in a village in Punjab. I never met him but my grandma says he used to make the panjiri every day and always ran out of panjiri by 4pm."
Tuli likes to use it in desserts such as for a crumb, a tart base or an apple pie crust.
"My grandma's recipe is the best in my opinion because of that extra ingredient of love," he says. "You know when you make something, particularly desserts, you gotta follow a recipe. But what I have learnt from my grandma is that you have a 'guesstimate' for quantities when it comes to panjiri: you can add extra ingredients to compliment the overall recipe like adding raisins, melon seeds or khoya.
"It just makes the dish so unique and so tasty."
My grandma's recipe is the best in my opinion because of that extra ingredient of love.
Panjiri also reminds Mangat of family. "I remember going with my dad to hire special equipment for making panjiri and buying all the ingredients before returning home and sitting next to my mum and dad in the kitchen and filling our house with the smell of roasted nuts and caramelised sugar."
He thinks it's a special tradition. "A knowledge that has been passed on from generation to generation even though it's just a dish."
Clearly, panjiri is more than just a recipe to fill growling stomachs.
Harry Mangat mum's panjiri
- 500 g ghee
- 1 kg atta (whole wheat flour)
- 450 g desi khand, jaggery or brown sugar
- 200 g almonds
- 200 g cashews
- 100 g pistachios
- 20 g cardamom powder
- 20 g ginger powder
- 100 g raisins
- 100 g flaxseed, ground
- 1 tbsp black pepper (more or less, according to preference)
- 2 tbsp ajwain (more or less, according to preference)
- 100 g gond (optional)
Method
- In a karahi (pot) or wok, roast the 3 nut varieties over low heat. When the nuts are roasted to your liking, put them on a plate to cool down.
- Carefully wipe the karahi with a dry cloth to get rid of any broken nuts.
- on low heat, fry ghee and atta until the mixture turns golden brown. Make sure it's not lumpy. Add desi khand, flaxseeds, ajwain, black pepper, cardamom powder and ginger powder, and fry for a further 2 minutes.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients together and let cool to room temperature.
- Store in an airtight container and enjoy.
Notes:
- You can buy most ingredients from an Indian grocer.
- Gond is edible gum.
- You can replace the sugar with honey or maple syrup if you prefer.
