Lohri’s sweet treat

Roh Di Kheer is simple to make, a blessing to eat, and has many health benefits, writes Rameshinder Singh Sandhu.

In Punjab, people become quite excited about making Roh Di Kheer right before Lohri. The aroma of this straightforward traditional delicacy, which is composed only of rice and sugarcane juice, permeates practically every house. It’s also not your typical dessert — for good reason — as it’s revered as a kind of blessing!

“The traditional Lohri festival also heralds the start of the Punjabi calendar’s new month, magh, which denotes the change of the seasons. However, making this rice pudding has long been a ritual to mark a fortunate start. It is traditionally presented to the head of the family as the first supper on Lohri day, as it is seen as extremely auspicious. The fact that it may be enjoyed hot or cold and is shared with neighbours is something that many people appreciate, according to septuagenarian Punjabi writer Gurmeet Kaur Bhullar.

With the advent of sugarcane in October and its availability throughout winter, the community kitchen of Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, also referred to as the Golden Temple, serves it at least once a week due to its religious significance. “Devotees from all around the world adore it. Chef Baljeet Singh of this community kitchen says, “I think it’s one of the inventive ways to use sugarcane juice, more commonly known as roh.”

Even though rice and sugarcane juice are used in the preparation, care must be taken to remove the blackish water from the juice that floats atop during cooking as this could darken the kheer and alter its flavour.

To improve the flavour, one can also add fruits or fennel seeds. Depending on the recipe used, it has a creamy or light green colour when it’s done. Because it doesn’t contain any milk or processed sugar, dieticians and food scientists consider it to be among the healthiest dessert options. Additionally, it is a “perfect alternative” for someone who is lactose intolerant, according to Dr Poonam Aggarwal, a food scientist at the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana. “We conducted an experiment in our laboratory and concluded that sugarcane juice is lactose-free and has a high carbohydrate content. It’s also quite nutrient-dense since, in addition to carbs, it has a variety of vitamins, minerals including iron, and important amino acids. When compared to rice pudding made with milk, sugarcane rice pudding has a longer shelf life. It is, in my opinion, among the greatest delicacies to be enjoyed in the winter.”