Mysore Pak
Mysore's royal sweet: gram flour cooked into a sugar syrup with hot ghee poured in a spoon at a time, until it froths, sets porous and melts in the mouth.
Prep 10 min · Cook 20 min · Total 30 min + 1 hr setting · Serves 16
Ingredients
Mysore pak (16 pieces)
- 150 g Besan (gram flour)
- 300 g Sugar
- 125 ml Water
- 300 g Ghee
Method
- Prepare. Grease a 20 cm square tin with ghee. Mix the besan with 3 tbsp of the melted ghee to a smooth, lump-free paste. Keep the rest of the ghee hot on the lowest heat.
- Make the syrup. Boil the sugar and water in a heavy pan until it reaches one-string consistency: a drop pulled between finger and thumb forms a single thread.
- Add the besan. Lower the heat to medium and add the besan paste a spoon at a time, whisking constantly so no lumps form.
- Add the ghee. Pour in the hot ghee a ladle at a time, stirring all the while. Each addition should sizzle and be absorbed before the next. The mixture will froth, turn porous and lighten in colour.
- Set. When it froths up, pulls away from the pan and ghee starts to leak from the sides, pour it straight into the tin. Don't spread it. Leave 10 minutes, cut into squares while warm, and let it set an hour before separating.
Tips
Have everything measured and the tin ready before you start; the last minute moves fast, and a few seconds too long gives a hard, crumbly pak.