Atta Pinni

Around Lohri, a steel dabba appears on the kitchen shelf in Punjabi houses and does not move until the weather turns. One pinni with a glass of hot milk at seven in the morning, and that is breakfast dealt with. The atta has been roasted for the better part of half an hour, the gond has puffed up in ghee like popcorn, and the whole thing is pressed tight in a fist so it holds. Grandmothers used to make five kilos at a time.

Pinni is really three things done well. Gir Cow's A2 Ghee is churned the bilona way, and on a low flame it roasts the atta evenly all the way through, carrying that deep nutty smell into every ball rather than leaving scorched patches. Organic Jaggery is unrefined, so it brings a dark, earthy caramel sweetness that sits right against roasted wheat in cold weather, where white sugar would just taste thin.

The one rule that cannot be bent is the temperature when the jaggery goes in. Spread the roasted atta in a thali and wait twenty-five minutes, until it is only just warm to a finger. Add jaggery to a hot mixture and it melts, then sets rock hard as it cools, and your pinni becomes a brick.

How to make it

1. Grate the jaggery on the fine side of a grater, or pulse it in a mixie into a loose powder. Spread it on a plate and leave it aside. Lumps of jaggery will never mix in later.
2. Heat 3 tbsp of the ghee in a heavy kadhai on medium. Add the gond in two batches. It puffs up like popcorn in 2 to 3 minutes and turns pale and light. Lift it out, let it cool, then crush it coarsely with a rolling pin or your fingers.
3. In the same ghee, fry the almonds, cashews, pistachios and magaz for 2 minutes till they smell toasted. Add the raisins for 20 seconds till they swell. Take everything out.
4. Pour the rest of the ghee into the kadhai and add the atta. Keep the flame low from here to the end. Stir all the time with a flat spatula.
5. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes. For the first ten it looks dry and clumpy, then it loosens, turns smooth and starts to flow like a thick batter. It goes from pale to a proper golden brown and smells deeply nutty. Ghee will pool at the sides.
6. Watch it closely in the last five minutes. Atta goes from golden to burnt in under a minute at this stage. The moment the colour is right, take the kadhai off the flame and stir in the pinch of salt.
7. Tip the roasted atta into a wide thali and spread it out. Let it cool for 20 to 25 minutes, till it is just warm to the touch. Test with a finger. If it feels hot, wait longer.
8. Now add the jaggery, crushed gond, fried nuts, raisins, cardamom and ginger powder. Mix hard with your hand for a minute so the jaggery spreads all through.
9. Take a heaped 2 tbsp of the mixture, press it tight in your fist, then roll it between your palms into a firm ball. Press each pinni once more between both hands to compact it. Set them on a tray and leave for 2 hours to firm up.

Tips

• Storage: keeps for up to a month at room temperature in a clean, dry airtight box. There is no dairy solid in it apart from ghee, so it does not need the fridge.
• Not binding? Add 1 tbsp warm melted ghee at a time and press again. The mix should hold when squeezed hard, not feel wet.
• Too soft to roll instead? Wait 10 minutes. Pinni firms up quickly as the ghee cools. If it is still loose, spread it in a greased tray and cut it into squares once set.
• Skip the gond if you cannot find it, or use boora sugar in place of jaggery for a paler, milder pinni. Both are traditional in different Punjabi homes.
• Roast the atta on a low flame only. Medium heat browns the outside of each grain while the inside stays raw, and the pinni tastes bitter no matter how much jaggery you add.