Gehun ki Kheer is a dessert packed with nutrition. It is originally a Marathi dish. This dessert, with its obvious deflection in the choice of staple ingredients like rice or vermicelli, uses whole wheat or ‘Gehun’. This makes gehun ki kheer a unique dessert that would certainly stand out amongst all the food that you would cook for a quiet, cozy dinner party making you the star of the evening. Its finger-licking deliciousness can put up a stiff contest with any dessert on all fronts: taste, texture, and nutritional value. In short, it is a complete package.
Health benefits
Gehun ki Kheer has a very high nutritional quotient.Wheat contains dietary fibers that help with digestion and metabolism. It is also high in dietary minerals which consist of vitamins, and essential fatty and amino acids.
Ingredients
1 cup ground wheat - coarsely ground
2 tbs of ghee
1 tbs of raisins
¼ tsp of ground green cardamom powder
1 tbs of cashew nuts - chopped
1 cup of solid jaggery - grated
3 cups of milk
How To Make Gehun Ki Kheer
- Soak the coarsely ground wheat in water for about an hour. Place a non-stick skillet over medium heat and add a little ghee.
- Lightly roast the raisins and chopped cashew nuts until golden brown and set them aside.
- Drain the water from the soaked wheat. Place a deep bottomed non-stick pan over high heat and pour the rest of the ghee in it.
- Add the drained wet wheat to the pan once the ghee is hot. Sauté the wheat till translucent and you can smell the sweet fragrance of the wheat.
- Add the roasted cashew nuts and raisins to the pan and mix them well with the wheat.
- Add the green cardamom powder to the pan and mix it well.
- Add the jaggery to the mix in the pan and keep stirring.
- Add water if you feel the wheat mixture is too dry. Reduce the heat to medium.
- Add the milk to the pan gradually and keep stirring the wheat mixture till it blends completely.
Tip : Try using jaggery made from date palm. This enhances the flavor and the fragrance.
Trivia
According to archaeological records, the very first wheat cultivation is documented around 9600 BCE in the Fertile Crescent regions of Ancient Egypt. Historical records of its production range from the Levant Region of Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iraq to as far east as China across Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. India produces about an average of 95.8 million tons of wheat per year and ranks second to China. About 20% of the total production is lost due to poor storage, road conditions, and at retail.