Mysore Pak

Mysore Pak is the mother of all South-Indian sweets. It is prepared with chickpea flour cooked with lots of sugar and ghee... as a matter of fact, the chickpea flour is just a humble vehicle that binds together all the sugar and ghee :). It's consistency is like that of a soft, slightly crumbly, and slightly moist cookie. The amount of ghee determines how moist the Mysore Pak is. 

I have prepared an extremely easy microwavable version of Mysore Pak. As easy as it is to prepare the whole thing in a microwave, undeniably, it doesn't taste exactly like the full-blown version. This is my mother-in-law's recipe for preparing Mysore Pak - the authentic way. It is easy to prepare and not as rich as the store-bought ones. It is extremely tasty, nonetheless. 

Ingredients (comfortably serves 6):

1.  1 cup besan/chickpea flour
2. 2 cups sugar
3. 1/3 cup water
4. 3 tablespoons + 1/2 cup ghee / clarified butter

Preparation: 

1. Butter or grease a pan with ghee and set aside.
2. Sieve the besan and set aside.
3. In a wide heavy-bottomed pan, heat 3 tablespoons of ghee over medium heat. When the ghee is warm, reduce the heat to low and roast the besan for about 5 minutes until there is a pleasant aroma of besan wafting through your kitchen.
4. Immediately put the besan in a bowl and crumble and break up all the little lumps (if any) with your hand or a fork. It is important that the besan be smooth in texture, for a lumpy besan results in a Mysore Pak with a course/lumpy texture. Some tiny lumps are inevitable, so don't go crazy in annihilating every microscopic lump.
5. Dissolve the sugar and water in the same pan used to roast the besan. Set the heat on medium and stir for about 2 minutes until the sugar and water are well incorporated. 
6. Now slowly add the besan to the sugar-water, mixing constantly to avoid any lumps. 
7. Add a couple of tablespoons of ghee and keep stirring the besan on medium heat. Keep stirring constantly. When the besan looks dry or sticks to the pan, add a little more ghee and stir. Don't add all the ghee at once, for the besan will absorb it all in no time and demand for more. It's like ghee-blackhole. No matter how much you add, the besan absorbs it all. So, keep adding the ghee in small installments whenever the besan is dry or sticky and keep stirring.
8. Keep stirring until the besan leaves the sides of the pan and comes together as a glistening mass (see picture). It takes about 15 minutes to reach this consistency. 

   

   Consistency of cooked besan. Top: The besan in the hot pan. Bottom: The besan in the greased pan, ready to be smoothed and cut into Mysore Paks

9. When you reach this state, immediately take the pan off heat and transfer the cooked besan onto the greased pan. Do not leave the besan in the hot pan. A few seconds changes the consistency of the besan. 
10. Tap the pan to remove air bubbles and gently smooth the besan on top with a greased spatula. 
11. Let it rest for a couple of minutes. Before the besan cools to room temperature, cut the besan into squares or diamonds. Let it cool to room temperature. 
12. When it is cool, the cooked sweet would have slightly hardened. Gently remove the Mysore Paks from the pan (do not invert the pan, gently remove each square of sweet) and store in an air-tight container at room temperature, for about a month. 

Enjoy the Mysore Paks! 

If your Mysore Pak seems crumbly, it means you skimped on the ghee or let the besan cook a little longer. No worries, they still taste good. And if your Mysore Pak is too chewy and doesn't harden, it means the besan should cook a little while longer. You could put the whole thing back in the pan and heat it a little more, but you need to do this before the besan completely cools down. With a little practice, you can identify the right consistency. Make in small batches and practice away! :)