Friday, December 14, 2012

A traditional treat, revisited with a new technique

Ninava (pronounced nee-nah-vuh), is a dense cake, made with that classic combination of coconut milk and jaggery, and scrumptious, ghee-roasted chickpea flour. Photo: Sai Raje

I often remember this very traditional sweet from my childhood because I rarely ever got to eat it. It was among my favourite sweet treats, but for some reason, was made only once a year, on the day before the Ganapati festivities.

Inexplicably, I never had the good sense to ask my mother to make it either, which left me pining for it most part of the year.

Ninava (pronounced nee-nah-vuh), is a dense, moist cake like sweet, made with that classic combination of coconut milk and jaggery, and scrumptious, ghee-roasted chickpea flour. I am told that the dish is unique to the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKPs), a community in Maharashtra known for its love for good food (an old joke being that the wealthiest of this lot squandered their riches over fine food and drink!).

Last week, I attempted my own version of the ninava, helped along by the recipe published in my grandmother Shakuntala Mohile’s book, Paramparik CKP Pakakriya (traditional CKP recipes; Audumbar Prakashan). The biggest difference in my version was that unlike my grandmother, who steam-cooked the ninava, I spread the batter in a brownie tin and baked it in the oven. I must add; I did this because a footnote in Aji’s recipe insisted that the reader try baking it for better flavour.  

“We didn’t have ovens back then. Ninava is much tastier baked, than steamed,” she said, after having tasted a bite of my baked version.

The traditional and more authentic version calls for thick, handmade coconut milk, made by soaking, pressing and sieving grated coconut in hot water. But my being hard pressed for time did not help matters, and I resorted to a cheat’s route by using coconut milk from a tetrapak (a fact I conveniently avoided telling my grandmother). 

Rest assured, the little deception did not seem to make any difference to the final result. For an even richer and scrumptious version, you can pan-fry the ninava squares in some ghee after they are baked, which give them a crispy brown outer layer to die for.

Ninava 
Pronounced (nee-na-vuh)
Coconut milk, Chickpea flour and Jaggery Cake

Recipe translated from Paramparik CKP Pakakriya (in Marathi) by Shakuntala Mohile 

Ingredients 
1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
¼ cup whole wheat flour
Milk of 1 coconut or 2 small tetrapaks coconut milk
1 cup grated jaggery
3-4 teaspoons clarified butter (ghee)
10-12 green cardamom pods, seeds crushed
Large pinch grated nutmeg (optional)
Small pinch of salt

Method
Mix in the chickpea and whole wheat flour. Saute the flour mixture in a pan with the ghee on a low flame, until the chickpea flour loses its raw smell and turns light brown.
In a separate bowl, mix the jaggery into the coconut milk by hand, until it dissolves completely. Add a pinch of salt to this mixture. 
Now, little by little, add the roasted flour to the milk mixture. Mix in thoroughly for a smooth batter or use an electric hand blender to get rid of any lumps of flour.
Add powdered cardamom and nutmeg to the batter, and transfer to a pan. Stir the mixture constantly on low heat until it takes on a thick paste like consistency. 
Transfer the mixture to a greased 9-inch square baking tin.
Bake at 150 degree Celsius in a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool and cut into squares.

2 Comments:

At December 15, 2012 at 3:25 AM , Blogger GAP said...

Hey Sai, one of my friends makes her cakes using tofu instead of oil and eggs. They are rather delicious. You should check out and see if you like trying that sometime :-) These look awesome by the way. <3

 
At December 15, 2012 at 11:10 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

Wow, will try it sometime. I am quite the purist when it comes to baking, but would like to try this vegan version. :-)

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home

The Treat Company: A traditional treat, revisited with a new technique

This page has moved to a new address.

A traditional treat, revisited with a new technique