Archana Pidathala’s Buckwheat Breakfast Set
An essay and recipes for buckwheat panjiri and spiced chai cake. Words and photographs by Archana Pidathala.
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Welcome to Vittles Recipes! In this new weekly slot, our roster of six rotating columnists will share their recipes and wisdom with you. This week’s columnist is Archana Pidathala. You can read our archive of cookery writing here.
Archana Pidathala's buckwheat breakfast set of panjiri and spiced chai cake
An essay and recipes for buckwheat panjiri and spiced chai cake. Words and photographs by Archana Pidathala.
One day last month, I woke up to an empty flat in Barcelona, where we moved ten months ago. My son was away on a week-long school trip, and my husband was in India. I cooked little and skipped meals to avoid sitting alone at the dining table. So, when my friend Kalin called and invited me over, I jumped at the offer like an eager child.
Kalin and I met at a parents’ meeting at my son’s school last summer. Our connection was instant, as it is with some people. Every time I am under the weather and can’t cook for myself, she brings me soup. When I hurt my back in November, she baked my son’s birthday cake.
As I packed my knapsack to leave for Kalin’s, I thought of cooking her something, and surveying ingredients in my pantry, I realised how much of my decade-long culinary journey has been shaped by the people I love. The desires and palates of others have always inspired me to cook and use familiar ingredients in new and exciting ways, and the resulting dishes have often become staples in my own home: a garlicky lentil and tomato broth I invented for my goddaughter (which my son now calls Zara akka’s rasam), my signature aubergine biryani that I cook for my vegetarian friends.
I thought of how Kalin loved invigorating, fragrant flavours, and decided to make panjiri: a sweet, festive dish eaten across South-Asia, made by mixing ghee-roasted flour, jaggery, spices, nuts, and seeds into a texturally pleasing, granola-like texture. It is nourishing and indulgent, a picnic-in-a-jar that is fragrant with speckles of rose and cardamom, and full of crunch. Panjiri can be eaten at all times of the day – in the quiet of the morning light, as a mid-afternoon treat or post-school snack, or as dessert – either on its own or paired with yogurt, fresh fruit, or ice cream.
I almost always have a jar of panjiri by my bedside, especially during the winter, for the quick boost of warmth and energy it gives in just a spoonful. Whenever I have needed extra nourishment – after giving birth, or a bout of viral arthritis – panjiri, with its immunity- and energy-boosting powers from buckwheat and ghee, has helped me heal. Panjiri is a delicious, useful companion, since it keeps well for a few weeks.
As I packed a jar for Kalin, I decided to make myself a cup of masala chai and bake a chai cake with the leftover buckwheat and almond flour. I cut myself a thin slice to eat before I left and realised that the cake is a perfect companion to the panjiri – a breakfast set of sorts. With these two options, I could imagine my friend’s mornings filled with pleasure. When Kalin arrived to pick me up, the cake was still warm, the air heavy with the warm, fuzzy notes of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and clove.
Buckwheat, nuts, and seeds panjiri with cardamom and rose
Panjiri is more commonly made with atta or whole wheat flour in India (known as wholemeal flour in the UK), but in this recipe I have used light buckwheat flour to make a gluten-free version. Buckwheat – a protein-rich, fibre-rich seed that is not related to wheat – is a preferred food during ritualistic fasts in India, when grains are forbidden. It has a distinctive, earthy, rustic flavour, with faint notes of bitterness that work well in both savoury and sweet dishes. The resulting panjiri tastes sweet, but not overtly so, with the grainy depth of buckwheat, the caramel notes of ghee, the softness of the almond flour, the crunch of the nuts, and the sweet muskiness of rose all balancing each other.
I've used cup measurements for these recipes because all the quantities are straightforward, but if you don't have a set of cups you can easily google the conversions.
