Shardaayi by Uttam (@cravingsbyuttam)
A sweet nut milk which is relished during summers as well as in winters in most of the Punjabi households.
It’s a family project to nourish the bodies and combat the harsh elements of the northern plains, bond us together in appreciation of traditional foods.
Ingredients (for 4 servings):
- 1/2 cup of almonds
- 1/2 cup of seeds(sunflower,melon or pumpkin)
- 3 tbsp of poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- A pinch of saffron
- A few peppercorns (7-8 or a/c to taste)
- Green cardomom-2 deseeded.
- Water for desired thickness.
- Sugar-As per taste.
Procedure:
- Soak the almonds overnight along with charmagaz.
- Remove the cardamom skin and grind along with the khas khas and pepper.
- Once this has turned into a fine black powder, add the badam and charmagaz and start the ragra.
- This is usually hard work and takes over an hour even for a serving this size.
- A shortcut is to blend the nuts and the seeds before the ragra to save time.
- While doing the ragra, keep adding little bits of water when required. The nuts will soak up the water and become easier to crush.
- When this has become a very fine paste, strain through a thin cotton cloth into water.
- Add sweetner of your choice.
