Simple Gluten Free Kitchen

Celebrating Guru Nanak’s Birthday and making Parshad

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You must be wondering what “parshad” is?

Let me tell you, It is pronounced as P-urr-sha-d (d as in ‘the’). It is a sacred sweet, a symbolic that is distributed in a Sikh temple as a blessing from the Guru. Parshad signifies one of the basic principle of Sikhism “Vand Chakna” which means sharing and eating together. That is why it is distributed from one bowl to all the people sitting the temple. Today is our first Guru, Guru Nanak dev ji’s  birthday and I thought what other day would be better to write a post about karah parshad.

 

 

If you have never been to a Gurdwara (a sikh temple), I would suggest you must visit at least once, to get an experience of tranquility and ‘sewa’ (selfless community service) besides sharing wonderful food including parshad. When you enter in the prayer room (after removing shoes, covering your head ,washing hands), you bow humbly and touch your forehead to the ground in front of the Guru Granth Sahib (the Holy Book).

 

 

This is just out of respect and acknowledging the fact that there is an infinite power which pervades all of us. It is something similar to raising a hand to an agreement or taking an oath in constitution. After bowing you sit down and listen quietly to the Kirtan (hymns) or just pray in your heart. Then everybody stands up for ‘Ardas'(community prayer) and in the end parshad is distributed.

After that people proceed to eat langar ( food in free kitchen ). It is open to everyone, everyday. If you do not wish to sit for long you can bow to the holy book and get the sweet pudding from the person in charge of the distribution and then walk around to get an awesome experience.

 

 

So coming to the recipe, Parshad is traditionally cooked from wheat flour, sugar, desi ghee (clarified butter) and water to a pudding like consistency. I don’t exactly know why only wheat flour is used. Is it out of convenience or people are still not aware of gluten allergies? Whatever it is I give you a recipe for gluten, soy, and nut free parshad. This recipe is just an example that a gluten free diet doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice on your childhood favorite sweet. When we were kids we would go to the Gurudwara just for Parshad. It is so yummy. Believe me, its true. Even today, kids would say the same thing and ask for a second serving.

 

 

Print
Karah Parshad

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sorghum
  • 1/2 cup besan /gram flour
  • 1/2 (+) cup sugar
  • 1 cup desi ghee or canola oil
  • 1 1/2 cup hot water

Instructions

  1. Heat desi ghee or oil in a thick bottom wok or pan.
  2. Add sorghum and gram flour. Stir continuously over medium low heat.
  3. The flour mixture will be frothy at first. Slowly the froth will disappear and the color of the flour will become deep golden and you'll smell the nutty aroma in your kitchen (The whole process will take about 10-15 minutes).
  4. Add sugar and then slowly add hot water ( Make sure you wear oven mitts while stirring to prevent getting hot splash on your hand) While making wheat parshad sugar syrup is made and then added to the toasted flour. However, I'm skipping that step as I like my recipes to be simple.
  5. Gently fold the mixture from the sides and the bottom of the wok into the center. The texture will change when the flour absorb all the water and it is evenly combined (not smooth but a cracky texture).
  6. You will notice that parshad has come away from the sides of the wok and hold together well (slightly sticky because its bean flour) and transmit sweet delicious smell.
  7. Enjoy.

Notes

Don't be intimidated by the amount of ghee/oil used in preparing parshad . Eat in small amount and keep the leftover for next day.

https://www.simpleglutenfreekitchen.com/2011/11/karah-parshad.html

I made this recipe earlier with just gram flour but after trying it with 1/2 sorghum flour I found the taste and texture much better. Hence  updated the recipe.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Balvinder, check your date and day on your post. Its wrong. You really did some hard work by taking pictures from Gurdwara. Chickpea flour halwa looks the same as the wheat flour and grainy texture.

    Reply

  5. Malti thanks for telling me. I don’t know how I scheduled my post to publish on 9 Th November Now I updated it.
    To Healthy foodie travels , Lisa and Julie. good to know that you liked my post on sweet pudding. In this fast paced life sometimes we just forget our traditions. Days like these remind us.

    Reply

  6. My grandma used to make Parshad on every Sangrand. I like eating parshad with roti and kheer,and my younger son likes parshad a lot.Everytime we go nto the Gurdawara he always asks for more Parshad.

    Thanks for posting the recipe.

    Reply

  10. Hi Bal,
    this is the same as the one we make for our holy festivals too, though now I have reduced the amount of sugar compared to that my mum made when I was younger.

    Looks very nice and like that you have shaped it into a ball, so convenient way of serving.

    Reply

  14. I learned a lot from this post. Traditions of other countries is always a good thing to know. Also, I now know about this delicious sweet called Parshad. Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend!

    Reply

  16. thats very tasty dish.i tried that before,if u put little more water then that kind of halwa is good for running nose,sneezing.thanks for sharing that.
    dalvir ubhi

    Reply

  17. Hi Dalvir,I am familiar with runny besan thing for cold. This Parshad is not made from ( Besan) chana daal flour. That’s true it will do become runny if you add more water but will not have the smooth texture because it is grainy like semolina.

    Reply

  20. Hi Balvinder,
    Thanks for the gluten free recipe of Kara Parshad. I made it today with coconut sugar and olive oil and it turned out really yummy and very light. I realized that as the mixture is gluten free , it was very liquidy so I decided to add more sorghum flour and more chickpea flour too. I love it!!

    Will make it more often!😘

    Reply

    • Thanks for the feedback, Renu. Yes, the mixture looks liquidy when you add it to the ghee but all the ratios are correct. Glad you enjoyed it even after adding little more flour.

      Reply

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