Winters are already knocking on the door and the festive months have already started... My mum used to make gond atta pinnies each winter, and I wanted to renew this memory by putting my own little spin. Made Frankincense and Gond Atta pinnies packed with lots of dried fruits and nuts this Diwali merging the traditional Indian winter energy balls with an Omani touch.
These pinnies are delicious but packed with tons of health benefits as frankincense is anti-inflammatory and helps strengthen joints, as does the gond. Frankincense is basically a resin of boswellia tree which is very traditional and prominently used in Omani homes, not just for food but also used to provide a beautiful aroma throughout the house, or steeped into teas. The health benefits are endless as it improves your gut health, arthritis or even helps reverse the cancer in some cases. Instead of normal sugar I’ve used jaggery which is an unrefined sugar again perfect for your immunity and enhances blood supply...
These energy balls are perfect to make in big batches and store them in jars to consume through out winter...
PREP TIME: 15minutes
MAKING TIME: 15 minutes
PASSIVE TIME: 30 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour
YIELDS: 16
INGREDIENTS
For Dates Layer
1/3 cup khus-khus (white poppy seeds)
100g gond, (edible gum) small pieces
10g frankincense gum (take fairly small pieces)
100g almonds
100g pistachios
1/2 cup dedicated coconut
20g watermelon seeds (magaj)
1/4 cup green raisins (kishmish)
1/3 cup desi ghee
2 1/2 cups atta
400g jaggery, soft and cut into pieces or jaggery powder
1/2 cup water
METHOD
In a heavy bottom wok or deep frypan, dry roast the khus-khus for 2 minutes on a medium low heat until fragrant and slightly golden. Remove from pan.
Heat a teaspoon of ghee in the same pan, keeping it on medium low heat. Add frankincense gum and fry for few seconds until it puffs up, remove from pan. Wipe the leftover ghee in pan.
Add 1 tbsp of ghee in pan, melt ghee on medium low flame, add half the quantity of edible gum and fry stirring constantly on medium low heat until it puffs up. Remove from pan.
Now melt another tablespoon of ghee in a pan and fry the remaining edible gum keeping the heat on medium low. Remove from pan.
Now melt a tablespoon of ghee in the same pan, still keeping the heat on medium low add almonds and fry for 2 minutes until slightly golden. Remove from pan.
Add half a tablespoon more to the pan if need be and fry cashews stirring constantly on medium low heat for just a minute. Take care not to over roast it. Cashews should slightly change its color and not brown. Remove from pan.
Now add raisins to the same pan and fry for few seconds and remove from pan. Add coconut and roast stirring constantly for 2 minutes until slightly golden in color. Remove from pan.
In the same pan roast watermelon seeds on medium low heat for a minute and remove.
Melt rest of the ghee in the same pan. Keeping the flame on medium low, add atta and roast it stirring constantly until the atta turns slightly golden. Take care not to burn the atta. It’s perfectly ok if you feel the atta is bit dry while roasting. Do not be tempted to add more ghee. Remove from the pan.
Wipe the pan, add jaggery and water, keeping the pan on medium high heat, let the jaggery melt. Once melted cook on medium heat for just couple of minutes until it forms one sting consistency. Do not over cook the jaggery as your pinnies will get hard if it’s over cooked. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile the jaggery is melting, grind the roasted khus-khus, remove in a large bowl. Coarsely grind roasted almonds and cashews and add it to the khus-khus bowl.
Grind the fried frankincense in mortar and pestle. Add it to the khus-khus bowl along with roasted atta, watermelon seeds, raisins and coconut. Mix them well.
Now pour the melted jaggery while it is still quite warm on to the atta mixture. Mix well with the spatula. Add edible gum and mix again. Now quickly shape them into round balls by firmly pressing it in your hands.
Cool them to room temperature and store it in an airtight jar.
COOK'S NOTES
choosing the small pieces of frankincense is important as the larger pieces will not roast properly.
Wiping the pan after roasting frankincense is important as it’s slightly bitter in taste and it will make the rest of the ingredients coated in that bitter flavour.
Keeping the heat on medium low is important as nuts has the tendency to burn quickly.
Take a great care when cooking jaggery syrup as overcooking the jaggery will make your pinnies tough.
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