Junnu Powder
Junnu is the steamed pudding made from a cow's first milk after calving. It is faintly sweet, wobbles like a set custard, and is impossible to make abroad because nobody is selling you colostrum.
What junnu is
Colostrum milk, jaggery or sugar and cardamom, steamed until it sets. Andhra and Telangana homes make it when a cow calves and send bowls to the neighbours. In Tamil homes the same thing is ginne appam.
How the powder works
Junnu powder is dried colostrum. You mix it with regular milk and jaggery, pour into a vessel, and steam fifteen to twenty minutes until set. The texture comes out close to the original, which for most people abroad is the difference between having it and not.
Simple method
Whisk the powder into milk with jaggery and a pinch of cardamom until no lumps remain. Pour into a greased steel bowl, cover, and steam on medium for fifteen to twenty minutes. It is set when a knife comes out clean. Cool before cutting.
Questions people ask
What is junnu?
A steamed pudding made from a cow's first milk after calving, sweetened with jaggery and cardamom. It is called ginne appam in Tamil homes.
How do you make junnu with junnu powder?
Whisk the powder into milk with jaggery and cardamom, pour into a greased bowl, cover and steam for fifteen to twenty minutes until set.
Can you get junnu outside India?
Fresh colostrum milk is not sold abroad, so the powder is the only practical route. It reconstitutes with ordinary milk and sets the same way when steamed.