Panjiri Recipe – A Warming Postpartum Sweet

Panjiri—also spelled panjeri or panjeeri—came up during my Fourth Trimester Podcast conversation with Dinalynn Rosenbush. She remembered a Pakistani mother bringing it to a new parent, which is exactly the sort of postpartum help we love: someone arrives with food and quietly makes the day easier.

After we recorded, Dinalynn shared the family-style Panjeri recipe she learned from a Pakistani friend. It is a generous mixture of ingredients toasted in ghee: edible gum, phool makhana, nuts, seeds, coconut, cardamom, and semolina or another flour. Make it in a very large bowl. This recipe yields about 40 small servings, so there is plenty to share.

This is not a throw-everything-in-the-pan recipe. Each ingredient is toasted separately, and you do need to stand at the stove and stir. Set out your bowls before you begin and take your time. Once it is finished, the Panjeri keeps well in an airtight container and is ready whenever someone wants a small spoonful.

Dinalynn’s original notes call for a “scoop” of ghee. We use about 1/4 cup, or 4 tablespoons, as a practical starting point. What matters is having enough to coat the pan and toast the ingredients without scorching them, so use your eyes and adjust as needed.

If you are bringing this to someone else, label it clearly. This recipe contains ghee, nuts, seeds, sesame, edible gum, and either semolina or another flour. Ask about allergies and food preferences before you start.

Panjeri (Panjiri) Recipe - A Warming Postpartum Sweet

Dinalynn Rosenbush, adapted from a family recipe shared by her Pakistani friend

A family-style Panjeri recipe shared by Dinalynn Rosenbush, with ghee-roasted edible gum, phool makhana, nuts, seeds, coconut powder, cardamom, and semolina or a gluten-free flour option.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Pakistani

Servings 40 small servings

Ingredients

  

• 1 scoop ghee about 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons, for edible gum
• 2 packages edible gum also called gond
• 1 scoop ghee about 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons, for fox nuts
• 4 cups fox nuts phool makhana
• 1 cup raw cashews or to taste
• 5 to 6 green cardamom pods seeds removed
• 2 cups raw blanched almonds
• 2 cups walnuts
• 1 cup pistachios
• 200 grams melon seeds
• 100 grams sesame seeds
• 200 grams coconut powder
• 400 grams semolina, amaranth flour, or cassava flour rajgira/amaranth or singoda/cassava are options
• 1 scoop ghee about 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons, for the flour mixture
• powdered sugar, jaggery powder, chopped dates, or raisins optional, to taste

Instructions

 

• Set out separate bowls or trays before starting. Panjeri is roasted in batches, and each ingredient should be stirred continuously while it cooks.
• Warm 1 scoop ghee over medium-high heat. Add the edible gum and stir continuously until the pieces turn white, puff up, and fill with air. Transfer to a bowl and crush lightly once cool.
• Add another scoop of ghee to the pan. Add the fox nuts and cook over medium-high heat, stirring continuously, until crisp. Transfer out of the pan.
• Lower the heat. Toast the raw cashews and cardamom seeds gently until fragrant, then transfer out of the pan.
• Toast the almonds over medium-low heat until they barely begin to change color. Transfer out, then toast the walnuts until crisp and the pistachios until hot and fragrant.
• Toast the melon seeds over low heat until crisp and lightly brown, then toast the sesame seeds on low. Keep each batch moving and transfer it out as soon as it is done.
• Toast the coconut powder briefly on low, stirring constantly so it does not scorch.
• Toast the semolina, amaranth flour, or cassava flour over medium-low heat until hot and slightly darker in color. Add 1 scoop ghee and mash or stir it through until evenly coated and fragrant.
• Combine the roasted flour mixture, crushed edible gum, fox nuts, nuts, seeds, coconut, and cardamom in a very large bowl.
• If using powdered sugar, jaggery powder, chopped dates, or raisins, let the mixture cool until warm rather than hot, then mix in the sweetener to taste.
• Cool completely and store in an airtight container. Serve in small spoonfuls.

Notes

This follows the family-style Panjeri notes Dinalynn shared from her friend, a Pakistani woman whose method was generously passed along for this episode. In this version, 1 scoop ghee is treated as about 1/4 cup, or 4 tablespoons, based on common panjiri-style recipes that use several tablespoons of ghee for roasting. Use enough ghee to coat the pan and keep the ingredients from scorching.

Raw cashews were listed without a quantity in the shared notes, so 1 cup is a practical starting point; adjust to taste. Sugar, jaggery, dates, or raisins are optional because they were not included in the shared notes, though many panjiri versions do add a sweetener after the mixture cools.

Label dairy/ghee, nuts, seeds, sesame, gluten or grain ingredients, and edible gum clearly if bringing this to a new parent. This is a food for adults, not infants.

Keyword comfort, easy

A Recipe Meant to Be Shared

What stayed with me from Dinalynn’s story was not only the Panjeri. It was the person who knew to make it and bring it. Food is one of the most useful forms of postpartum care, especially when it arrives ready to eat and the new parent does not have to organize any part of it.

Listen to the conversation that inspired this recipe: Your Baby’s Brain Works Differently Than Yours — How Early Communication Supports Future Success.

For more food you can make for a new family, browse the Postpartum Soups and Stews Collection.

The content provided in this article(s) is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or other professional advice. Neither Sarah Trott nor Fourth Trimester Media Group LLC are liable for claims arising from the use of or reliance on information contained in this article.