To make panjiri, roast whole wheat flour slowly in ghee on a low flame until it darkens a shade and smells nutty, fry gond in hot ghee until it puffs, roast makhana and nuts separately, cool everything to warm, and mix in powdered sugar or jaggery. Our starting point is two parts atta to one part ghee and one part sugar by weight: 300 g, 150 g and 150 g, with 30 g of gond, 60 g of makhana and 60 g of almonds. No standard body publishes a ratio.
Panjiri is also a winter food, a Janmashtami prasad and, in Punjab, a food for new mothers. This article describes that custom as custom and claims no effect on recovery, milk supply or immunity, because no source we opened tests any. If you have just given birth, follow your doctor's or midwife's advice on what to eat.
At a glance
- USDA FoodData Central lists ghee at 900 kcal per 100 g, whole-grain wheat flour at 340, dried lotus seeds (makhana) at 332, almonds at 579 and granulated sugar at 387; our search of it found no record for gond.
- On those figures our 750 g batch is 3,497 kcal before the gond, about 140 kcal per 30 g serving, with 6 g of ghee and 6 g of sugar in each.
- ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines say to limit ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day and define sugar above 25 g a day as high.
- A 2025 interview study of 20 new mothers in Punjab records families giving panjiri to improve lactation and warm the body, and doctors advising those who had a caesarean to avoid it.
What is panjiri, and where is it eaten?
Panjiri is a loose, crumbly sweet of roasted whole wheat flour, ghee, sugar, dried fruits and nuts, often with gond and makhana. Wikipedia's entry says it is prepared by roasting wheat flour in ghee and adding dry fruits and spices, and lists it as consumed in Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
The same entry says that in Rajasthan it is made with edible gum, gond, and the mixture rolled into laddus. Pressed into balls, the same mixture is gond ke ladoo; what gond is and why it puffs are in our article on gond ke ladoo with ghee.
What ratio of atta, ghee and sugar should you start with?
Two parts atta to one part ghee and one part sugar by weight: 300 g, 150 g and 150 g for one batch, with 30 g of gond, 60 g of makhana and 60 g of almonds, 750 g in all. A starting point, not a standard; the recipes we opened differ.
On ICMR-NIN's 15 g tablespoon, 150 g of ghee is ten tablespoons (150 ÷ 15 = 10), but heaped spoons vary; our guide to ghee spoon measures in grams has the weights. Add the sugar or grated jaggery only once the mixture is warm; added hot, in our kitchen, it melts into lumps.
How do you make panjiri step by step?
Fry the gond in a little of the ghee until it puffs, roast the makhana and almonds in the same pan, add the rest of the ghee and roast the atta on a low flame until it smells nutty, cool to warm, and stir in the gond, makhana, almonds and sugar.
- Measure. Weigh everything. Powder the sugar with cardamom, chop the almonds, break the gond to peppercorn size.
- Fry the gond. Melt about 30 g of the ghee in a kadhai over a medium flame until a test crystal puffs within seconds. Fry a small handful at a time; lift each out as soon as it is white through.
- Roast the makhana. Lower the flame. Roast them in the same ghee, turning, until crisp and pale gold; lift out.
- Toast the almonds. A minute in the same pan, then out.
- Add the rest of the ghee and keep the flame low.
- Roast the atta. Stir it in and keep stirring, scraping the base, until the paste loosens, darkens a shade and smells of roasted nuts, not raw flour.
- Cool to warm, off the heat, until you can hold the side of the pan.
- Crush the cooled gond to coarse crumbs; break the makhana into quarters.
- Mix the gond, makhana, almonds and sugar into the warm atta until no streaks remain.
- Cool fully on a tray, then into a closed, dry tin.
Why roast the atta, gond and makhana separately?
Because each wants a different heat. Gond needs ghee hot enough to puff it within seconds; makhana scorches at that heat and wants a low flame and turning; atta wants the lowest flame of all and the most time, so that it browns evenly instead of catching on the base.
That is kitchen experience, not a tested rule; no source we opened compares the methods.
How many calories are in a 30 g serving of panjiri?
About 140 kcal on our batch, before the gond is counted. Our search of USDA FoodData Central's SR Legacy and Foundation records found no entry for gond, so the gum is left out and the true figure is a little higher.
Each row is grams times the record's kcal per gram; whole-grain wheat flour stands in for atta and dried lotus seeds for makhana. The batch gives 25 servings (750 ÷ 30 = 25).
| Ingredient | Batch | USDA record, kcal per 100 g | Calories in the batch | Per 30 g serving (÷ 25) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole wheat flour (atta) | 300 g | Wheat flour, whole-grain: 340 | 300 × 3.40 = 1,020 kcal | 12 g; 40.8 kcal |
| Ghee | 150 g | Butter, Clarified butter (ghee): 900 | 150 × 9.00 = 1,350 kcal | 6 g; 54 kcal |
| Sugar (or jaggery) | 150 g | Sugars, granulated: 387 | 150 × 3.87 = 580.5 kcal | 6 g; 23.2 kcal |
| Makhana | 60 g | Seeds, lotus seeds, dried: 332 | 60 × 3.32 = 199.2 kcal | 2.4 g; 8 kcal |
| Almonds | 60 g | Nuts, almonds: 579 | 60 × 5.79 = 347.4 kcal | 2.4 g; 13.9 kcal |
| Gond (edible gum) | 30 g | No record | Not counted | 1.2 g; not counted |
| Batch, plus the gond | 750 g | — | 1,020 + 1,350 + 580.5 + 199.2 + 347.4 = 3,497.1 kcal | 3,497.1 ÷ 25 = 139.9, about 140 kcal |
How does a serving fit the ICMR-NIN 2024 guidelines?
As a sweet, not a staple. The ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) say: "Limit ghee or butter to just 1 to 2 teaspoons/day or avoid, if possible." On the guidelines' 5 g teaspoon, one serving's 6 g of ghee is 1.2 teaspoons (6 ÷ 5 = 1.2), so two servings pass the top of that range.
On sugar: "Consumption of sugar in quantities that contribute over 5% of total energy intake per day or 25 g/day (based on average intake of 2000 Kcal/day) is defined as 'high' sugar." The guidelines count "sucrose (table sugar), jaggery, honey" alike as added sugars. One serving's 6 g is 24 per cent of that 25 g (6 ÷ 25 = 0.24). If a doctor has set limits for you, follow them, not our table.
Why does panjiri keep for weeks without a fridge?
Because it is dry, as far as we can tell; we have not measured it. Clemson University Extension says water activity, the water in a food available for microbial growth, "is a good predictor of food safety and of how long a food product will last on the shelf", and that most spoilage organisms grow well at 0.91 to 0.99.
Every ingredient starts dry and gets drier. USDA's records list 10.7 g of water per 100 g in whole-grain wheat flour, 14.2 g in dried lotus seeds, 4.41 g in almonds, 0.5 g in ghee and 0.02 g in granulated sugar; roasting drives off part of that, and no water is added. We have not measured panjiri, so we cannot place it on that scale, and we have not tested how long it keeps.
Why is panjiri given in winter, after childbirth and at Janmashtami?
Because that is the custom, and our sources describe it only as custom. Wikipedia's entry says panjiri is "often prepared as a Prasad in Hindu prayers during Krishna Janamashtami", that a Dogra variation "is prepared for winter season & Janamashtami Vrat" and, quoting a 2013 food guide in its references, that it is "also given to women who are breastfeeding".
A 2025 study in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth interviewed 20 first-time mothers in one Punjab district. It describes panjiri as "a high-calorie snack made of ghee, nuts, dried fruits, sugar, and herbal gums", given after a vaginal birth to improve lactation and warm the body, and records that "doctors advised women who had cesarean section to avoid panjiri". An interview study records beliefs; it tested nothing, and we found no trial that has.
So we claim nothing about warmth, recovery, immunity or milk. New mothers should follow their doctor's or midwife's advice on diet; our article on ghee while breastfeeding sets out what the ICMR-NIN guidelines say: visible fat should be restricted during lactation, and no ghee figure is given for nursing mothers.
For the Janmashtami vrat, Wikipedia says, dhaniya panjiri, "prepared with the powder of coriander seeds, ghee, sugar, almonds and raisins", replaces the wheat version because grains are generally not allowed during fasting. The ghee carries the flavour; ours is Himdhara's A2 bilona ghee.
The short version
Panjiri is roasted whole wheat flour, ghee, sugar, nuts and seeds, left loose rather than rolled. Fry the gond, roast the makhana and almonds, then the atta on the lowest flame until it smells nutty, cool to warm and stir in the sugar. Two parts atta to one of ghee and one of sugar gives about 140 kcal per 30 g serving, with 6 g of ghee and 6 g of sugar. The customs are customs; a new mother should follow her doctor.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- Wikipedia contributors (2026). Panjiri. Wikipedia.
- Sharma P, Bagga R, Khan M, et al. (2025). Maternal health education and social support needs across the perinatal continuum of care: a thematic analysis of interviews with postpartum women in Punjab, India. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Butter, Clarified butter (ghee). FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians. ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad.
- Barefoot S (2018). Available Moisture in Foods: What Is It Anyway?. Clemson University Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center.