Mysore pak or Mysore paak must be one of the most popular sweets in Karnataka. It is one of my all time favorite sweets. But there are different kinds of Mysore pak available in market. When I was a kid, they were always long rectangular shaped(as in this picture ). They used to be solid, very porous, melt in the mouth kind of sweets. But these days we get them either like semi solid ones with dripping ghee or even if they are solid ones, they don’t have pores in them, so they are too hard, they are very light in color (almost the color of besan ). Somehow I don’t like this variety. Though both are still Mysore paks and there are many fans for both types, but I like only the first one.
Since this is my hubby’s favorite too, I asked my aayi if she knew how to make these. She said when she was just married, she used to make these very regularly. When she was here, she even wanted to give me a demo, but somehow we never got to make this at that time. She gave me the exact steps to make this. She also said after sometime she had stopped making these at home since they were readily available in markets and also she clearly knew the response to any sweets at our home.
So after keeping this recipe without being tried for about 4-5months, I thought it is high time to give it a try. Since there are just 6 days left for Diwali, I thought this is the best time. Frankly, I didn’t have much hopes when I started. Even though I have 100% faith in my aayi’s recipes, I have a natural talent for messing up the dishes. These got ready in about 45mins and I had got one of the best Mysore paks , just the way I loved them. They were very porous, light, solid, crunchy. I have cut them in the shape available in bakeries, the color also came out perfect.
If I say I am on 7th sky, it won’t be wrong. Two days straight, I have been very happy. Yesterday, I had a major breakthrough in my project and I almost danced in front of everyone. My boss, who always thinks I am a quiet girl, started laughing when I was jumping with joy. Today, even though a mere sweet is nothing compared to that success, I am too happy, just can’t express in words :).
This is my first entry to Vee’s Diwali special JFI . I did a lot of circus today to take pictures with one hand while I was mixing the contents with other hand. So pardon the poor quality of most of the photos.
Ingredients: 1 cup gram flour( besan ) 1 cup sugar 1 cup ghee 1/2 tea spn cardamom powder
Normally 2 cups of ghee for 1 cup flour is used, I think that makes the texture still better. But I am very satisfied with the texture for amount of ghee I used.
Method: Heat 1 tea spn ghee and add gram flour.
On a medium flame, fry till nice aroma comes out of it and it turns slightly brownish. Take care not to burn, it burns easily, so make sure to keep stirring it. Take it out on a plate and keep aside.
Mix sugar with 1/2 cup water and bring it to boil, keep mixing with a spoon.
When it is boiling, and you can see rapid boiling, add the fried four and mix (do not wait till it forms syrup).
Now add 1 tbl spn ghee at a time, keep mixing all the time. When all ghee is done, keep mixing continuously. If you stop mixing for a min, you will see the mixture has lots of air in it and when you start mixing again, the air goes off.
When the mixture starts leaving edges and looks a bit dry, add cardamom, mix well and pour it into a greased plate and flatten immediately.
Keep the plate tilted at an angle, this way, all the extra ghee comes out of the Mysore pak and you get very dry pieces. Cut into desired shapes.
Makes about 12-14 pieces Preparation time : 45mins
PS: These are some very important notes to keep in mind – If the flour remains half fried(roasted), it gives a different taste. So make sure not to skip the first step of frying/roasting it well. – The plate where you pour the mixture should be greased with ghee and kept ready before you even start heating the water because you cannot spend time on greasing it when the mixture is ready to be poured. You have to work very fast at this point. – Always keep the plate at an angle to remove extra ghee . – Never try to make this dish on a high flame, it gets burnt very easily, so start with a cool, patient mind :D. – Cut into pieces when it is still warm. When it is completely cooled, it crumbles very easily. – Take out from the heat when the mixture looks quite dry and looks like froth. If you take out early, it wont get solid after cooling. This step comes only with practice.Â
GooD (pronounced go-o-D) shankarpal must be another signature sweet made for Diwali in many Marathi/Konkani homes. Last year I had tried these for the first time. But then, I forgot to take pictures, so I could not post it here. I don’t make these dishes very often – once a year is also a very good number according to me, not because I don’t like them, infact I love these too much. But since they take a little bit of patience and time, I avoid even thinking about them.
Aayi makes these thinner than what I made this time, mine have become more like cookies – I just wanted to hurry up things, so I have cut them into thick pieces. Thick or thin, they just taste superb. I remember, while growing up, I used to help her cutting these. She had loads of patience, she would make these goodies often. My brother and I loved to eat them when they were still hot. Now that we both are away from home, she has stopped making these.
Here is how aayi’s shankarpal looks like. This photo was taken by my brother when aayi made these for him.
I am posting all these well in advance to Diwali so that those who want to follow these, have enough time to try these. I am sending this to Vee’s Diwali special JFI .
Ingredients: 1 cup(approx) sugar 1 cup water 3/4 cup vanaspathi ghee(dalda) – hydrogenated vegetable oil or normal ghee + oil/ ghee/dalda for deep frying 4 cups(approx) maida or all purpose flour 1/2 tea spn salt
The amount of sugar given above makes these very mildly sweet. So increase it if you want to make them more sweet. I didn’t measure flour properly, so if needed, add more/less flour to make the dough. Aayi always uses dalda , which makes these very light and tasty, since I read somewhere about ghee , I mentioned that too.
Method: Heat sugar with 3/4 cup ghee/dalda and water till the sugar and ghee/dalda melts. Take off the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Now add salt, flour and knead it into a tight dough. Keep it aside for 30mins.
Heat dalda/ghee for deep frying (I used 1/2 dalda + 1/2 oil). Knead the dough well. Take a big ball and roll it into a round of desired thickness (if required, dust lightly with dry flour). Dip the edge of a knife in dry loose flour(this avoids sticking) and cut into square pieces.
Deep fry the pieces in oil till they are dark brown. Take out on a paper towel. Allow them to cool to room temperature and then store in air tight container.
Preparation time : 2hrs
PS: This measurement makes fairly large batch of shankarpals . So if it is your first time, start with half the quantity mentioned above.
