Shufta

Shufta is one of the lost treasures of Kashmiri food. Seemingly, many people know about it, but it's not cooked very often. This recipe is usually relished during winters because it produces heat in the body due to its ingredients Since it is a desert so, one has to be precise about weighing the ingredients to the final gram to balance out the ingredients so that when you take a spoonful, it's not only the sugar you taste.

This one requires a lot of patience and commitment. The rest can be bought online or from your nearest supermarket.

Ingredients

1. Paneer – 250 grams

2. Almonds – 15-20 (soaked overnight or blanched to peel off the skin)

3. Pistachios – 15-20 ( soak for 30 mins)

4. Walnuts – 10-15 (soak overnight or blanch to peel off the skin)

5. Raisins – 15-17 (soak for 30 mins)

6. Cashews – 10-15

7. Peppercorns – 10

8. Dried coconut chips – 30 grams << I think the name in stores is coconut flakes>>

9. Ghee/Clarified butter – 2 tsp

10. Kesar/Saffron – 12 strands (soak overnight in 20 ml of hot water and keep in a warm place)

11. Water – 200 ml

12. Sugar – 200 grams

Procedure

1. In a saucepan, add sugar, water, and saffron along with the water it was soaked overnight. Keep it on a medium flame and let it simmer for 20-25 mins till you get a One-thread consistency. One-thread consistency is when a single thread is formed (and does not break) when your forefinger and thumb are pulled apart gently.

2. In another pan and add Ghee. Pan-fry the Paneer till golden brown. Take out, and set aside.

3. In the same pan, add some more ghee to pan-sear coconut chips, walnuts, cashews, almonds, raisins, peppercorns, and pistachios all separately because all these don’t get seared at the same time, so if you sear them all together, you might end up burning one or at least two varieties of nuts. You can check out our post on Sundh where we fried the nuts individually.

4. Now incorporate every single ingredients. Add the Paneer, nuts, and peppercorns to the saffron-sugar syrup, mix well and let it sit on a low flame for 15 mins.

5. Keep mixing it and ensure that every ingredient is submerged in the syrup.

6. Let it cool for a while, and then serve after dinner.

7. This is usually served hot, but you can try it cold as well.