Gujarati Sweets Warm up the Winter

salan_pak

In winter, Gujaratis prepare certain sweets considered to have healthful heating properties. One is gundar pak (the light brown spheres in the photograph)  which is made from wheat flour, sugar, ghee, ginger, ganthoda  (valerian), and  gundar (an edible gum made from the resin of the axle tree). Another is salam pak (the dark squares) which contains over 30 ingredients, including cloves, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, almonds, pistachios, Indian ginseng, and a whole host of ayurvedic herbs.  It has a wonderfully complex, piquant flavor.   In Chicago, you can find these and other Gujarati specialties at Sukhadia’s Sweets on Devon Avenue. Owner  Jayant Sukhadia comes from a family who has been in the sweetmaking business in India for 130 years. In May, the culinary Historians of Chicago held a program at the store that was broadcast on WBEZ.   http://www.wbez.org/story/learn-all-about-indian-sweets-and-snacks-86862