Katlu Pak For New Mothers

This barfi (fudge) is prepared especially for new mom, she  can eat during her 1st month after child’s birth when her body need to recover post delivery.

You must have seen my recipe for nutritional squares (without gond or edible gum) recipe for pregnant women or new mothers and also Ginger Candies for Mothers To Help During Child Birth. These recipe of healthy squares called Katlu pak recipe which has gund, gond or gundar in it is especially for new mother. Every Gujarati family has a tradition of making Katlu Pak for new mothers after baby’s birth. Giving birth to a child is like getting second life. So after a child’s birth, mother needs to be well fed. We make many dishes for new mom like raab which is like a soup made with wheat flour, ghee and jaggery and spices, shira also made with same ingredients but has a thicker consistency.

I have made a big batch of katlu pak but you can reduce the portion and add the spices accordingly. This recipe has almost half and half flour to nuts, seeds and spices ratio. Traditionally we add powder of dry fenugreek seeds which has very bitter taste. So I thought why to spoil such an amazing tasting pak with bitter taste, she can eat fenugreek leaves in veggie curries or eat sprouted fenugreek salad or have 1/2 tsp fenugreek powder with water (smart, isn’t it!!) 😀 😀

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: around 60 minutes

Ingredients:
– 1/4 cup flex seed powder – Omega-3 fatty acids which is a “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects
– 1/2 cup caraway seeds (suva dana) – one of the best herbs to prevent gas and bloating
– 1/4 cup carom seeds or bishop’s weeds (ajwain) – is also one of the best herbal wonder drug for gas, flatulence and indigestion
– 1 cup almond – a source of vitamin E, copper, magnesium, and high-quality protein
– 1 cup coconut powder or shredded coconut – rich in fibre, vitamins C, E, B1, B3, B5 and B6 and minerals including iron, selenium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorous
– 2 tbsp ginger powder (sunth or sonth) – helps in digestion
– 2 tbsp pimpramul (ganthoda) powder – high in Magnesium that works with calcium to build bone, regulate muscle contractions and balance blood pressure
– 3 tbsp katlu (batrisu) powder – a mix of 32 perfectly blended of traditional Ayurvedic herbs and other spice, mixed in optimum quantity brings all types of vitamins, proteins and other nutrients together
– 3/4 cup edible gum (gond or gund) – helps to strengthen back bone
– 3 1/2 cup wheat flour
– 1 1/2 – 2 cups jaggery (gud) break (quickest way to break it) in small pieces – it boosts immunity and also helps increase the total count of hemoglobin in the blood
– 4 cups or more clarified butter (ghee)
– Shredded coconut and/or poppy seeds for garnishing.

Procedure
1. Fry gond (edible gum) in a little ghee on low heat. It will puff up and double in size in few seconds. Remove from frying pan soon after that. Put in a big bowl and slightly crush using any flat bottom bowl.

2. Dry roast flax seeds, caraway seeds, and carom seeds separately on low heat and make powder. Dry roast almond on low heat and coarse grind. Dry roast shredded coconut on low heat for a minute. Roasting all these ingredients enhances the flavour. Add flex seed powder, caraway seed powder, carom powder, almond powder, shredded coconut, ginger powder, pimpramul, and katlu powder with crushed fried gond and mix everything well.

3. In a wide heavy bottom pan, heat 3 cup ghee. When ghee is slightly hot, add flour (sieve flour before using). Cook on low to medium stirring continuous. If mixture feels dry then add little more ghee. The mixture should look runny. Let it cook until mixture turns golden brown and house is filled with aroma. It will take about 15-20 minutes. When flour cooked turn off the heat.

4. Turn off the heat then add jaggery. Do not move away pan as heat from the hot coil helps to melt jaggery. Continue to stir and let jaggery melt, it will take a minute or 2. Then add spice mixture and mix well until everything is blended together. If mixture feels dry at this point then add melted ghee and mix. Tip: If you melt jaggery in the flour mixture while heat is still on, then chances are jaggery will over cook and these squares will be hard to break when done. 
 

5. Spread this mixture immediately in greased tray or thali. I used 1 tray and 1 thali as I had a huge batch or you can use big pizza tray. The thickness should be around 1/2″. Level the mixture with flat bottom bowl or flat spatula. Sprinkle some shredded coconut, poppy sees on top and flatten with spatula. After few minutes when mixture cools down slightly, make square cuts using knife. Instead, you can make ladoo. Let the hot mixture cool down slightly and when it it is easy to handle, make ladoo.

6. When it cools down completely, remove all the pieces carefully from the tray and store in airtight container (remember to taste before you store, they taste the best when still slightly warm 😛 😛 ). You don’t need to put this in fridge, it will stay good for at least 2-3 weeks at room temperature.

Katlu Pak has amazing health benefits and wonderful flavours from all the spices. It is so soft that it melts in your mouth. You can add poppy seeds, some fenugreek seeds and sesame seeds.  It is a very rich dish. Share with your family and friends so someone who needs it can benefit from it.

Please do leave a comment or let me know if you have any questions regarding this dish. .

You can check out similar recipe ideas.
Nutritional Squares for Mothers To Be or New Mothers
Ginger Candies for Mothers To Help During Child Birth

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