Mysore Pak

Ingredients:

Gram Flour / Besan --   2 cups
Sugar                             --   2 cups
Vegetable oil             --   1 cup
Fresh Ghee                 --   1 cup
Water                            --   ¾ cup

Preparation:

Grease a plate with ghee / oil and keep it ready. I used a 9inch baking pan. But its better to use a square / rectangular pan if available, so that the edge pieces are also in shape :)

Sieve the gram flour. Roast the gram flour in a heavy bottomed pan for 4 - 5 minutes or until the raw smell goes off. Sieve the flour once again and keep it aside.

Mix the oil and ghee in another thick pan and until smoking hot and then leave it on the stove at a low flame.

In another pan(I used the same pan, in which I roasted the flour) add sugar and water and let it boil until you get one string consistency. You can test it by leaving a drop it in a cup of cold water and that drop shouldn't dissolve. Or you can test it between your thumb and index finger and it should form a string  when you stretch out.

Once you get the consistency, add a spoon(use a big spoon, about 2 - 3 tbsp capacity. I used my dosa ladle.) oil - ghee mixture. It will start to bubble when oil is added. Simmer to a medium - low flame.

From this point onwards, do not stop stirring. It would be great if you have someone else to help. I found it really hard to keep stirring while adding flour and oil.

Slowly add the gram flour little by little and keep stirring it continuously and ensure that there are no lumps.

Add the oil - ghee mixture, one spoon at a time, while you keep stirring. Every time you add the oil, it should form bubbles and a sizzling sound. Continue this until all the oil is done.

Keep stirring continuously until mixture starts coming together, like a ball, the oil will be mostly absorbed and few bubbles starts forming on the sides of the pan.

At this stage, pour it in the greased plate and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon. You might see some oil floating on the top. Do not remove this oil.

Let it cool for 2 - 3 minutes, then cut with a greased knife, when it is still hot. Let it cool completely before you separate them.It continues to get cooked while cooling and that is why we see a darker shade inside and a lighter colour outside.

Note:

This is an easy and quick recipe (just takes around 15 - 20 minutes for the whole process). But the most important part is the consistency of the sugar syrup and the doneness of the mysore pak. Be careful at this stages.

If the mysore pak is less done, it will soft and will result in the consistency of milk peda. If it is over done, it will be too hard to break.

Recipe Courtesy: Amma & few tips from Sanjeev Kappor