Shital's-Kitchen: Ponk

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Ponk

An amazing day one of 2014 getting my hands on my racquet. Yes, you got it, a wonderful game of my favorite sport, Table Tennis. (not ping pong) ;) We also played a water sport game on my new Xbox One and burnt calories doing Zumba.

Also, I found my childhood favorite snack, Ponk. yes, there is no spelling error here. It is Ponk, freshly harvested, super tender, Jowar seeds/millet. And, now it is available in the US freshly frozen and packaged by Deep Foods, the brand I trust in. (HAHA...They are not paying me anything for writing this).


Like I said, Ponk is freshly harvested millet and is usually available in winter months of December and January.  This is a snack, a picnic favorite and is only available in Gujarat. Thanks to technology, Ponk could be exported to Mumbai, where we were able to encounter and enjoy this freshly harvested grain. Super pricey, but surely a delicacy of the season. These are tiny soft, sweet, tender, green grains and are accompanied with crisp, spicy, chickpea flour noodles called Sev (pronounced as Save). Ponk and Sev go hand in hand. And, so does this Deep Food pack provide.

 Check this video of Surti Ponk and how it is harvested.

  
A pack of frozen Ponk, a pack of spicy Sev noodles, a microwavable plastic bowl and a spoon.

These are frozen Ponk grains. As per instructions, I microwaved them for 60 seconds. This was not enough, so I microwaved for another 60 seconds. Tender, soft, grains were ready to eat.

Spicy Bikaneri Sev is an amazing pair with Ponk, and it comes in the pack. Crisp and deliciously fresh!

Since I wasn't sure how much would be inside the box, I bought a pack of Bikaneri Sev exported by Garvi Gujrat, another brand I like for traditional Gujarati snacks. 

Here are super, tender, warm, sweet Ponk grains. 

Served in a bowl mixed sprinkled with spicy Sev noodles.
I had an amazing first day of the New Year!
Wishing you all a year full of Food, Fun and Fitness!!




4 comments:

  1. I remember mom making it when we were kids. somehow I never ate it and stuck to crud rice even for snack .
    however you hav made pink sound really tasty. I wil try it get it. but u need to tell me how to cook it. o don't think I will get frozen ones here. how does it taste?? sweet salty sour

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    1. Haha, you and your rice!!

      Do try to get these and try some. These are basically harvested cooked under the heat of hot charcoal. You remember Rishi? His mom who was born and brought up in Surat told me how they would picnic in the Ponk fields and the harvester used to freshly harvest these grains for them to eat. Another favorite for Suratis in this time of the year with Ponk is Matlo undhiyu, where Undhiyu Veggies are put into the pot with spices and sealed. The pot is inverted and then pot over hot charcoal under the soil and covered with twigs and hay all around to catch fire for even cooking. Doesn't that sound interesting? So, what you buy in India or the ones available to me frozen, are all cooked and ready to eat. You can just warm it up slightly in the microwave or eat it as is. It basically tastes fresh grain, slightly sweet. The best part is adding spicy, super spicy Bikaneri sev and makes this combination amazing. Do give it a try. It is all about eating fresh and appreciating the season.

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  2. is this ponk Hurda called in maharashtra which they grill in fire on farms

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    Replies
    1. Yes this is the same Hurda...we call ponk in Gujarati.

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