Thursday, May 10, 2007

Local Exotic Sweet

The title sounds contradictory, doesn't it ? But, by the end of the post you will understand.

I am talking about a sweet called as "GiNNu" in kannada. It is one among my favourite sweets and it is made from cow's milk. But, it cannot be made from milk that is got everyday. The milk has to be obtained from the cow just after it has given birth to a calf. Only the milk got in the first two/three milkings will be suitable to make GiNNu. I am not sure why, but I am guessing that it has got something to do with the consistency of the milk.

You can call it a local sweet because apparently not many people have heard about it. Many of my friends (from different parts of India) at work did not know that something of this sort existed. Hardly one or two among my friends knew about it. It can also be called as exotic as it is not available at any sweet shop because, the main ingredient is not readily available. Its not like a Gulab Jamun or a Jalebi that I can purchase and eat whenever I want. Infact, I have eaten it just twice in my entire life - the first time being about 14 years back and the second time being today. I had gone for the house warming ceremony of a colleague and it was served there. I was extremely surprised to see it there. I am still quite shocked as to how the catering agency managed to procure enough numbers of it to serve to around 50+ people.

Ginnu looks like a cream coloured jelly and has the same consistency but it is not translucent as a jelly generally is. It is made by mixing the milk with sugar and cooking it in a pressure cooker and then flavouring it with elaichi. I am guessing it can be made is some other ways too, but this is the only one I am aware of. It tastes very much like thickened sweetened milk and just melts in your mouth.

Do try it out, if you do get an oppourtunity. Regarding its availability, ask those people who have cows in their house. They might be able to provide you with the sweet. But do keep in mind that by using that milk for making a sweet, you are denying the newborn calf its food.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I too love giNNu... :-P

Anonymous said...

ya bey that is my sis's fav sweet too.. i had it in my village once..

-pills

Smi said...

The foodie that u are, u must be aware of the Food Street in VV Puram..U get some really tasty ginnu out there.
Try maadi, sometime!:)

PizzaDude said...

@sudhi, @pills:
:D

@smi:
God Bless you! I must try it out the next time I go there. Which shop is it available in ?

RustyNeurons said...

I had heard of ginnu only because of a chapter in my kannada text book way back in primary class (it oculd 3rd or 4th, i am not really sure)
I am surprised we can get it here! I would love to taste it too!

PizzaDude said...

@rustyneurons:
Do try it out and let me know what you felt about it :)