Top | Savita Iyer-Ahrestani

Hema’s Melt-in-the-Mouth Mysore Paak

(recipe, Savita Iyer-Ahrestani)

Introduction

This traditional dessert from the southern Indian kingdom of Mysore is available year-round but celebrated most during the annual Dussera festival in October. My friend Hema Malini Devi — whose mother, Maya Devi, is a cousin of the present maharaja of Mysore and was raised in the royal palace — gave me this recipe.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup chickpea flour
2. 3 cups plus 4 tsp. ghee (see Note)
3. 2½ cups granulated sugar
4. 1 cup water

Steps

1. Mix the chickpea flour with 2 teaspoons of ghee, making sure to rub well and remove all lumps.
2. Smear 2 teaspoons ghee on a steel or glass plate and set aside.
3. In a heavy-bottomed pan, mix the sugar and the water and simmer on a low to medium flame. In another pot, melt the remaining ghee at the same time. Once the sugar melts totally, add a little of the melted ghee and all the chickpea flour and keep stirring.
4. Keep the flame on medium and add the remaining ghee a little at a time every minute, stirring all the while. After all of the ghee has been added, cook until the mixture forms a honeycomb-like appearance. This is the most important step for getting the Mysore paak right.
5. Once the whole mixture becomes like honeycomb, pour it onto the greased plate. Allow to cool for just 2 minutes, then with a sharp knife, cut into desired shape and size.

Note

Ghee is available in all Indian grocery stores.