From Pinni to Puran Poli: My Culinary Experiments

Author’s Note:
This article, written by contributor Megha Manchanda, captures her journey of blending tradition with curiosity, recreating family favourites, exploring regional cuisines, and embracing the hits and misses along the way. From the nostalgic warmth of winter pinnis to the festive delight of Puran Poli, each dish she makes holds a memory and a lesson, reflecting her joy in the process.

Cooking and trying new recipes occasionally is something I enjoy. Yes, it is a stress buster for me and a break from the digital world, however short-lived. Over the last few years, I have started experimenting with my culinary skills, and the recipes that I enjoy making the most are from the regional Indian cuisines.

So much so that my Instagram handle has food mentioned in it. My Instagram journey started nearly three years ago, but cooking experiments began a couple of years before that.

I would cook recipes from YouTube and share the photos with my friends and cousins, who, in turn, cajoled me into starting an Instagram page.

What started as an experiment soon became a recreation during the pandemic.

From quick to elaborate recipes, I tried my hand at everything and like every experiment, some worked and some didn’t. But I thoroughly enjoyed the process and continue to do so as it keeps me occupied constructively.

I started the experiment by making the samosa following a detailed recipe on YouTube, and the result was excellent, especially since I followed the methodology to the T.

I am a huge fan of traditional Indian food, especially desserts and have tried the local and seasonal specialities – gajar halwa, moong dal halwa, badam halwa, lauki halwa, etc.

The more time I spent in the kitchen trying and testing different cuisines, the more confident I became in experimenting with food.

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While some recipes turned out to be total disasters, like the mishti doi or sindhi kadhi, others, like the homemade gunpowder or podi and peanut butter, from scratch, were pleasant surprises. One dish that I am particularly proud of is the Puran Poli, a festive delicacy from Maharashtra. It was Gudi Padwa, a Hindu New Year celebrated by the Marathi and Konkani community, and I decided to try making Puran Poli, which I had once eaten as a kid at a family friend’s home in Nashik. I followed the exact same recipe from YouTube, and the sweet flatbread turned out delicious. It brought back so many lovely memories from the past.

My roots are in West Punjab, which is now in Pakistan, and I certainly love the food from that part of the world. There were some regional recipes that my grandmother prepared, and we devoured as kids. One such recipe is pinni. It is a winter speciality prepared in North India, which helps one keep warm in the cold. It is prepared with wheat flour, sugar, desi ghee and a host of dry fruits. The flour is roasted with ghee at low heat till it turns golden brown, and then dry fruits and powdered sugar are added to the mix. Upon cooling, the mixture is formed into small balls or pinnis, as we call it and relished throughout the winter.

And no, it is not a laddoo as it is not a perfect round, and that’s where its earthiness and beauty lie.

It was my most ambitious project to date as I replicated a recipe that I have been relishing since childhood, made by the elderly culinary experts in the family. My love for the recipe and precision in following the procedure bore excellent results. It got the stamp of approval from my family.

I continue to experiment with food, but due to paucity of time, I now attempt simpler recipes. However, I do have a list where I will go full throttle once again and challenge my culinary skills.