Panjeeri from Chapatti Flour (Like Fudge), Quick Version
Atta Panjeeri or Barfi, Quick version
Mamta Gupta
This Indian sweet is from the old days, a favourite of my grandmother's. This was the staple sweet dish that was made in many North Indian homes in the olden days. It is still one of my favourites. My grandmother, and women of her generation, made it without using Mawa or Khoya. The result was a little firmer panjeeri than this version.
Ingredients
500 gm. chapatti flour or atta
100 gm. ghee or clarified butter
150 ml. water
200 ml. (small) tin of sweetened condensed milk.
50 gm. chopped/sliced nuts like blanched almonds and cashew nuts. You can also use melon seeds
1 tbs. raisins (optional)
100 gm. desiccated coconut (optional)
Instructions
Grease a flat baking tray and keep aside. Do not use your best non-stick tray, the panjeeri needs to be sliced with a strong knife, which will ruin your tray.
Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed wok or kadhai or a pan and fry flour on medium heat, until it is beige in colour and emits a distinctive aroma of roasting flour, a bit like baking biscuits.
Now add condensed milk, chopped nuts/seeds, raisins and coconut if used. Save a few nuts for garnish. Stir continuously, using a wooden spatula, until the it begins to come off the pan in a single mass.
Turn it out into the tray and spread evenly, flattening the whole thing into a level surface. Experienced cooks level it with fingers wetted with cold water, by patting it very fast, carefully, so as not to burn the fingers.
Sprinkle the saved nuts on top and press gently.
Make diagonal cuts with a sharp knife, across the whole surface, through the entire thickness of the solid. Each panjeeri should be a diamond of approximately 1 1/2 inch.
Allow to cool and set. Pick out individual burfi and keep in an airtight box.
Serve with tea or after dinner.
