Besan Pinni – Haryana

Today we are going to Haryana after Gujarath for the month long Indian Food Odyssey. Haryana is one of the Norh indian states which came into existence during 1966 after being carved out of Punjab. It shares its boundaries with Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. As the state was carved out of Punjab, both the cuisines are so much similar. Different types are rotis and parathas are made and so Haryana is also called as “The Land Of Rotis”. Milk is available in abundancy and so ghee and buttermilk are used lavishly in their day to day menus. Besan and wheat flour are used a lot in their recipes. 

Pinni is like ladoo but uses ghee a lot for shaping. I read somewhere that pinni is a cross between ladoo and burfi. I think it is true. Even though it looks like a ladoo, it is crispy to bite and reminds me of bufi. The shaping of pinni was so difficult. It needs to be shaped while still hot otherwise, it will become a crumbly dry mixture. Though it would taste great, you can never shape it. If you use milk to soften it, then you will surely end up with soft laddoo like pinnis. My palms turned red when I tried shaping the hot mixture. Every Indian traditional sweet is interesting as they involve unique methods of preparation. That is why I love to make these sweets. This was so delicious. And the pistachios added a great flavour to the pinnis.

Besan-1 cup

Ghee-4 tbs

Powdered Sugar-1 cup

Saffron-a pinch

Cardamom Powder-1 tsp

Chopped Pistachios-2-3 tbs

Milk-2-3 tbs

1. Heat ghee and add the besan.

2. Roaast it until slightly brown and aromatic.

3. Add sugar, cardamom powder, roasted and chopped pistachios and saffron.

4. Keep on stirring for 2-3 minutes until sugar is fully incorporated.

5. Remove from flame and add milk.

6. Mix it and immediately shape into ladoos.

7. If you don’t want to take the risk of burning your hand, you can press the mixture in a small bowl and invert it to make thick cookie like pinnis. But it would not look traditional.

Dry roast and chop pistachios.

Heat ghee.

Add besan.

Roast until slightly brown and aromatic.

Add sugar, cardamom powder, saffron and pistachios.

Mix well and cook for 3 more minutes.

Add milk.

Mix well.

Shape into ladoos.

Arrange on a plate and allow them to cool.

Enjoy!!!