Shinni Recipe

When Bengalis make a peace offering to the Hindu Creator Deity Vishnu (Narayana) they conduct a special puja called Satyanarayana puja (this puja is fairly common across many Hindu sects all over the world). The specialty of the Bengali version is the main prasad (food offering) a delectable sweet thing called shinni - below is the recipe:

Shinni Recipe

The proportions are important to maintain. Scale up or down as necessary.

Ingredients

• 300 g atta / wheat flour - preferably whole grain atta, don't use self-rising flour
• 300 g 'batasha' or dried drops of clarified (white) or jaggery (gur or unclarified sugar) -  Sugar / Jaggery -
• 300 ml raw (unboiled) cow milk
• Grated fresh coconut to taste (don't be too liberal with this, it gives it an 'oily' taste)
• A little green cardamom seeds (chhoto elach) (again keep it low, it has a very strong flavour)
• 5 nos. (4" x 1.5" diameter) ripe bananas (must be well ripened to avoid that faintly brackish taste, ideally use the 'martaman' (bananito) variety (probably grown only in E. India / SE Asia) the commercial cultivar Cavendish ('singapuri' in India) does not give that typical taste.
• (optional) Cut dry fruits to taste (avoid this to get the real taste of the offering)

Method

1. Start by mashing the bananas and sugar into a smooth paste with your hands in a steel or brass vessel.
2. Add milk, mix and then add atta in small parts till the consistency is that of a pourable cake batter

Notes

• Under no circumstance eat too much of this thing. It is known to cause stomach cramps and indigestion on account of the uncooked flour / raw milk combination.
• Most Hindus consider making this other than on occassion of the Satyanarayana Puja as inauspicious and forbidden.
• Needless to say, I looooo...oved this thing as a child and had had a few cramps on eating too much of it. Even now would love going to someone's house for the Satyanarayana Puja more to satiate the sweet craving rather than for any degree of piety.