Mysore Pak

Rich Gram (Chickpea) Flour Confection

VegetarianOrigin Karnataka/Tamil NaduPrep 15 minutesCook 30 minutesMakes 25–35

A celebrated South Indian sweet made from roasted chickpea flour, caramelized sugar syrup, and generous amounts of ghee. It has a rich, melt-in-the-mouth texture infused with aromatic cardamom.

Cardamom spice

1.4 gStirred into the cooked sugar syrup (step 2)

Green cardamom pod · Elaichiground

1.4–1.8 g8–10 pods

spice

Grind the cardamom pods to a fine powder.

Everything else

Granulated sugar · Cheeni

400 g

sweetener

Lime juice · Nimbu Ka Ras

2.5 g½ teaspoon

souring agent

Ghee

500 g

oil/fat

Plain flour · Maida

65 g

flour

Chickpea flour · Besan

175 g

flour

Method

Lightly grease a 5 cm (2 inch) deep rectangular tray or dish with a little ghee and set aside.
Combine 400 g granulated sugar with 250 ml water in a large, heavy pan. Warm over low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar completely dissolves, then raise the heat to bring it to a boil. Skim off any surface scum with a slotted spoon and boil until the syrup forms two to three threads when tested between your fingers. Mix in 2.5 g lime juice and the cardamom spice, then take the pan off the heat.
Bring 500 g ghee to a boil in a separate heavy saucepan, then immediately take it off the heat.
Place a second large, heavy-based pan over low heat and ladle in 100 g of the hot ghee. Stir in 175 g chickpea flour and 65 g plain flour, toasting the mixture for roughly 5 minutes until the fat begins to separate from the flour.
Pour in the hot sugar syrup and stir vigorously for 1 minute. Keep stirring while incorporating the remaining hot ghee one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture pulls away from the spoon and stops sticking.
Tip the mixture into the prepared tray and leave it undisturbed for 5 minutes to settle. Carefully tip the dish to pour off any unabsorbed surface ghee, cut into 5 cm (2-inch) squares, and allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

Don't have something?

Granulated sugar

Jaggery
Use equal weight; grate or shave finely so it dissolves rapidly, giving a warm, caramel-like sweetness and slightly darker sauce.

Lime juice

Lemon juice
Use equal volume or weight; slightly sweeter and less pungent, but otherwise an imperceptible swap.
Dried mango powder
Use 25% of the weight; imparts dry, fruity sourness, best stirred in right at the end of cooking.
Tamarind extract
Use 50% of the weight; delivers pleasant fruity tang but turns pale sauces considerably darker.

Green cardamom pod

Green cardamom seed
Use 35 to 40% of the total pod weight; lightly bruise the seeds before frying in oil to release their essential oils.
Ground green cardamom
Use 20 to 25% of the pod weight (about 1 generous pinch per pod); stir in toward the end of cooking so the delicate floral notes do not dissipate.
White cardamom pod
Use 1:1 by pod count or weight; crack gently before using, though it is slightly less intensely floral.

Ghee

Unsalted butter
Use 120% of the weight; melt gently over low heat to avoid burning the milk solids, which will yield a softer, creamier richness rather than a nutty aroma.
Vegetable oil
Use 85% of the weight; holds high cooking temperatures without smoking, but the final dish will lack traditional dairy depth.
Mustard oil
Use equal weight; heat to smoking point and cool slightly before cooking, bearing in mind it introduces an assertive, pungent edge.

Plain flour

Whole wheat flour
Use the same weight, add 10–15% more water and rest the dough for 20 minutes; the result is heavier and nuttier.
Rice flour
Use the same weight for crisp coatings; for doughs use no more than half rice flour with wheat flour, or it will be crumbly.
Cornflour
For thickening use half the weight, mixed with cold water; it is not suitable for bread or chapati dough.

Chickpea flour

Yellow split pea flour
Use 100% of the weight. Many commercial gram flours are milled from split peas; performs identically in pakora batters and kadhi.
Cornstarch
For crisping batters or binding cutlets: use 50% to 60% of the weight. Produces a very crisp shell but lacks the earthy, roasted nutty flavour of besan.

Similar dishes

Cheela

Vegetarian Pancakes

Cheela is savoury, earthy, and spicy, whereas this dish is intensely sweet and rich with cardamom and ghee.

Same: Cheela uses chickpea flour as its main ingredient, just like this dish.
Different: Cheela is pan-fried into savoury pancakes using vegetable oil, fresh green chillies, cumin seeds, and coriander leaf, lacking the sugar syrup, cardamom, lime juice, and large volume of ghee used in this dish.

Papri

Gram (Chickpea) Flour Biscuits (Crackers)

Papri is crisp, savoury, and sharp with mild heat, whereas this dish is intensely sweet and rich with cardamom and butter notes.

Same: Papri shares chickpea flour as its primary ingredient with this dish.
Different: Papri is rolled and fried in mustard oil with chilli powder, asafoetida, and salt, whereas this dish is cooked into a soft sweet using sugar syrup, lime juice, cardamom, and ghee.

Vengayya Pakora

Onion Pakoras

Vengayya Pakora is crisp, salty, and spicy, whereas this dish is rich, buttery, and intensely sweet.

Same: Vengayya Pakora uses chickpea flour as its primary base, just like this dish.
Different: Vengayya Pakora is a deep-fried fritter made with onions, coriander leaf, chilli powder, and vegetable oil, lacking this dish's heavy ghee, sugar syrup, cardamom, and lime juice.

Punjabi Channa Masala

Spiced Chickpea Curry with Cumin, Tomato and Dried Mango Powder

It tastes tangy, warmly spiced and moderately hot, whereas this dish tastes sweet, rich and melt-in-the-mouth with cardamom and ghee.

Same: Punjabi Channa Masala shares ghee, green cardamom and granulated sugar with this dish, and both center on chickpea.
Different: It is a savoury curry of whole tinned chickpeas simmered with onion, garlic, ginger, tomato, cumin, coriander, Kashmiri chilli and dried mango powder, while this dish is a confection made from chickpea flour, plain flour, sugar syrup, lime juice and ghee.