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Mysore Pak
Cook Time
20 mins
 

Karnataka specialty sweet - melts in your mouth

makes about 20-25 squares or rectangles

Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup besan or bengal gram flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup water a little more than enough to soak the sugar
  • 1 cup ghee plus half teaspoon for greasing
other (optional):
  • 7 " x 1" shallow square tin
  • parchment paper to line the tin optional
Instructions
  1. Grease a square tin or non reactive container (at least about one inch high) with half a spoon of ghee and keep aside. Alternatively, line the square tin with parchment paper. This makes taking out the pieces easy.
  2. Sift Besan / Bengal gram flour to get rid of lumps. Do not skip this step.

  3. Measure sugar and water, pour into a thick bottomed pan or kadai.

  4. Stir and bring to a boil on medium heat.

    Stay by the stove from here on till the end.

  5. When sugar syrup begins to rapidly bubble, reduce the heat to sim and take the pan off the stove over to the counter. Pour sifted besan flour slowly into the pan while whisking quickly to avoid lumps from forming. Crush any remaining lumps with the back of a slotted spoon. I find Pav bhaji masher very helpful for this.
  6. Put the pan back on the stove on low-medium heat and keep stirring.
  7. When Besan mixture begins to bubble up vigorously, add 1/4 cup of ghee and continue stirring until all the ghee is absorbed. Repeat this in 2-3 tbsp increments until all the ghee is used up and absorbed. Each time ghee is added, the besan mixture bubbles up more and becomes frothier.
  8. As it cooks, more and more of the surface of the pan will begin to be visible. This is the time to be mindful. Keep stirring continuously until the bubbling is less frequent, begins to make a hissing sound.

  9. When the smoother looking mixture turns to a thicker and porous, add the last portion of ghee and stir. It will come together as one mass and will rise up like as froth. Now, every second is crucial. A few seconds before might be too early and few later might be too late. Make sure you are not distracted.

  10. At this point, as it peels away from the sides of the pan easily, pour the contents into the greased square pan. Do not pat down or try to level it. Let it fill the pan or container. Otherwise it will not be airy and porous.
  11. Let it cool down a little. After 5-10 mins, run a knife to see if it comes out clean. If yes, cut it into squares or rectangles while still warm. Else, wait a few more mins and cut. Let cool completely before storing otherwise it will smell rancid later.
  12. When done right, it should be porous, light, hard enough to hold shape but melts in the mouth.
Notes

If there is ghee oozing after pouring into the box or tin, it should be absorbed after sometime.

If Mysore pak turned out soft and holds shape but not porous, then it mean that the desired consistency was not reached. Nothing can be done about the texture. It is a matter of practice. It will still taste very good.

If Mysore pak is porous but brittle, it means that sugar was more and ghee was not enough.

If you want to reduce the sugar, do not reduce beyond 3/4 cup else the desired consistency is hard to achieve.

Using the square tin gives uniformly cut pieces (also reduces wastage after cutting)

If you are trying for the first time, try with a smaller quantity to get a hang of it. That way, even if it does not come out well, wastage will be less.

* I have used a ratio of 1(gram flour) : 2 (sugar) : 2 (ghee) in this recipe. Original recipe calls for 1:2:3. If you do decide to go all out with the original recipe ratio, keep adding Ghee in increments as said in the recipe until the Ghee is not absorbed any more. Rest is the same.

The difference is adding that extra Ghee is that Mysore Pak will stay soft for a longer time.