Punjab Gur Chawal Jaggery Sweet Rice Festival

Method

1. 1

   Fry cashews: Heat 1 tsp ghee. Fry cashews until golden. Keep aside.

2. 2

   Heat ghee: Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a heavy pot. Add crushed cardamom seeds and bay leaves. Sizzle 15 seconds.

3. 3

   Add the soaked, drained rice: Add rice. Stir to coat every grain in the fragrant ghee.

4. 4

   Add water: Add 3 cups water. Bring to a boil.

5. 5

   Cover and cook: Reduce to lowest heat. Cover and cook 15 minutes until rice is fully cooked and all water is absorbed.

6. 6

   Remove bay leaves.

7. 7

   Add jaggery: Add grated jaggery to the hot cooked rice. Mix gently — the jaggery melts from the heat of the rice and distributes through the grains turning them a golden-amber colour.

8. 8

   Add saffron milk if using: Add saffron milk. Fold gently.

9. 9

   Add raisins and cashews: Add raisins and fried cashews. Fold.

10. 10

    Serve warm: The gur chawal should be fragrant with ghee, golden from jaggery, sweet and lightly spiced. Serve in bowls. Eaten particularly warm at Lohri bonfires.

11. 11

    Note: Gur Chawal (gur = jaggery, chawal = rice in Punjabi) is the harvest sweet rice of Punjab — made to celebrate both the rice harvest and the sugarcane jaggery production that happen in roughly the same season (October to November). Eaten at Lohri (the winter harvest festival in January) alongside the bonfire as part of the festival food that includes revri (sesame-jaggery brittle), popcorn and peanuts thrown into the fire. Simple enough to be made in enormous quantities for village celebrations.