panj means five, ras means essence
The name PanjRas draws inspiration from the Pancha Mahabhutas, the five elements described in Indian philosophical traditions: earth, water, fire, air and space.
For us, it represents something even simpler: a return to food made with purpose. Taking what generations before us understood about nourishment, keeping what still makes sense, and making it relevant to the way we live today.
Wholemeal wheat, almonds and walnuts
Earth is the body: structure and steadiness. Wholemeal wheat and freshly ground nuts are the ground every PanjRas recipe stands on.
The golden, nutty crumble you taste first.
Organic cow ghee and jaggery
Water is what binds. Ghee carries the flavour of every ingredient and holds the crumble together, and jaggery, made by slowly boiling down sugarcane juice, brings the sweetness.
Richness, and the sweetness that holds it all together.
Ginger, white pepper, fenugreek and slow roasting
Fire is warmth and change. Some ingredients are roasted gently, some for longer, and the spices bring a warmth of their own.
Three to five hours over the flame, and nothing hurried.
Makhana and edible gum
Air is lightness. Makhana, the puffed seeds of the fox nut, and gondh, which puffs up in hot ghee, keep each spoonful from feeling heavy.
A lighter crumble, with the crunch of gondh.
Time and care
Space is room to recover. Panjiri comes from the postpartum confinement tradition: the weeks after a birth, when family cooks and a new mother rests.
The feeling that someone thought about you while making it.