The winter season is here and it’s important to keep the body warm. If you have noticed, this is the time we get chikki, gondh laddoo, peanut laddoos in the market. Wonder why? The reason is, all these ingredients have warm effect and are considered good for the human body, as it keeps you safe from winter chills and related illnesses.
Delicacies made from sesame seed and jaggery, such as gajak, have long been a seasonal favourite across Pakistan. According to a vendor, who’s been running a sweetshop in Karachi’s Doraji for almost 35 years, with winters rolling in their business touches its peak.
They sell ‘chikki’ and ‘pak’ at their kiosk. Then and there, they prepare ’til’ (sesame) pak, ‘khopra’ (coconut) pak, til ke laddu , roasted rice laddus and popcorn laddu .
These items are cooked in melted jaggery syrup and later dried to form thin, brittle slabs. “Just toss a handful of groundnuts in melted gurr (jaggery) and you have your phali (groundnut) pak ready,” he said.
“Twenty minutes is the minimum it takes to prepare one round of chikki,” he said. “The phali paks sold in big marts are usually expired, tasteless and soft,” he said, adding, “In contrast, the ones sold here are prepared in pure jaggery, which is both healthy and mouth-watering.”
According to him, chikki, also known as phali pak, and til ke laddu are the items that are sold the most during winters. They sold Mix dry fruit chakki Rs 2400 per kg, Pista chakki Rs2800 per kg, Almonds chakki Rs2000 per kg, Walnut chakki Rs1600 per kg and Cashew nuts chikki Rs2400 per kg.
