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Kuttu-Gur Panjiri (Buckwheat and Jaggery Slab)
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Kuttu-Gur Panjiri (Buckwheat and Jaggery Slab)

Kuttu (buckwheat)FestivalNorth IndiaSweetFlour (atta)VegetarianContains dairyContains nuts

Prep 30 min · Cook 10 min · Serves 6

Make

Ingredients

  • kuttu atta (buckwheat flour) — 1 cup (sieved)
  • gur (jaggery) — 2/3 cup (crushed or powdered)
  • dried coconut — 3 tbsp (grated)
  • melon seeds — 2 tbsp
  • foxnut (makhana) (a handful)
  • dry fruits (almonds, walnuts) — 1/2 cup (chopped or flaked)
  • desi ghee — 2 tbsp
  • water — 1/2 cup

Method

  1. Toast the grated coconut, makhana and melon seeds separately. Tip them onto a plate and pound the makhana coarsely.
  2. Dissolve the jaggery in the water, then cook it in a hot pan on low to medium heat, stirring all the time, to a one-thread syrup.
  3. At the same time, heat the ghee in another pan and roast the kuttu atta on low to medium heat, stirring, until it changes colour and no longer smells raw.
  4. Add the toasted coconut, makhana and melon seeds to the flour, pour in the jaggery syrup, mix and keep stirring for another 15 seconds.
  5. Spread the mixture on a greased plate, flatten it, scatter the dry fruits over and press them in lightly with a spatula. Set it in the freezer, then cut.

Tips

  • General practice: kuttu atta is a common fast-day flour; families differ on which other ingredients they take on a fast, so check your own practice.

Fresh atta: grind small, use soon

  • Millets keep for months as whole grain; flour is best ground as it is needed, because it turns rancid. (FAO, Sorghum and millets in human nutrition (1995))
  • Bajra changes fastest: its grain stores for months, but its milled flour has a very short shelf life. (ICAR-IIMR scientists, Food Chemistry Advances (2023) (DOI 10.1016/j.focha.2023.100190))
  • In an Indian study, untreated bajra flour stayed within the quality limit only about 2 days at room temperature. (ICAR-IARI, Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences (2016))
  • Ragi flour keeps better than foxtail, barnyard or bajra flour (it carries less fat). (Planta (2024), review)
  • Keep atta closed and cool: bajra flour kept best in polythene and worst in gunny sacks; grains should be dry and in airtight containers. (Chaudhary & Kapoor, J Sci Food Agric (1984); ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines (2024) (DOI 10.1002/jsfa.2740351113))
  • Going off shows first as smell and taste — sour, musty or dusty, then bitter. (Lai & Varriano-Marston, Cereal Chemistry (1980))

So: buy the grain, grind a week’s worth at a time — less for bajra in summer.

Recipe by Dr. Shelvi Agarwal · Recipe from FSSAI Eat Right India, Indi-Genius Food Challenge recipes, PDF pp. 92-93 (printed p. 85 on the photo page; the recipe page is unnumbered), written in our own words.