Mysore Pak

I'm all excited today.

My cousin Dharini and her family, my atthai and atthimber are all coming here for a small vacation from Seattle tomorrow.

Her son Vivek is into Gold and Gems and stone mining and they are planning a trip to Julian so he could get his hands dirty and try some of these things!

Anika loves Vivek and calls him Vivek Anna. She fights with her school friends that he is her own brother but just lives in Seattle with different parents!! Hahah!

Anyways...I thought I should make some snacks at home since its always fun to sit around in a group and snack away! Especially if its snacks like murukku, thattai and other things.

So, yesterday I made Thattai and Ribbon Pakoda and stacked them up in boxes. Maybe I can put these up as separate posts later. I just have pictures of the final result here!

I wanted to make some sweets - since Yadhu (my cousin's husband) is lactose intolerant, I wanted to make something that did not have a gallon of milk in it! So, I looked online for recipes that were sweets without milk - did you know that there are not that many..we indians always seem to add milk to our sweets! Huh!

And then I found Mysore Pak. I have never tried to do this before. I always look at the recipe and get intimidated with the amount of work that goes into it. And then i came upon this you tube video where this guy does it in an easy method. Thank you guy!

I decided that I can try and do that. Bold move- huh..I did ponder upon what would happen if it was a miserable flop...oh well..at least I tried!

So, I got started.

Here's the list of things you need -

Sugar - Powder it in a mixie - about 4-5 cups

Besan - a little less than 2 cups

Baking Soda- a pinch

Water - about 1/2 cup - I did end up adding 1 full cup of water and then realised that it was too much.

Patience - a ton of it.

Ghee - almost a ton! LOL! - actually I used about 2 - 2.5 cups of melted unsalted butter.

Here's a disclaimer before we get further - if you are a diabetic - or with heart problems - just skip this whole section - maybe read through it - but don't even try to think about eating this. There is a whole lot of sugar and butter here - not healthy. But maybe a small piece after a sensible meal - ..maybe. Then stop.

When i think back to how many of these I gobbled up from a box of SKS mysore pak - I can't believe myself. We don't realise how much sugar and ghee goes in there to make a few pieces of those - it sure is divine to eat. But you don't realise it until you actually make it!

Now, to the good part - making this -

Blend the sugar into a fine powder. Put all of it in a nice wide pan. Add the besan on top of the sugar, add the baking soda..mix it up well with your hands. Now, add the water little by little and then mix it up well. Since I did add more water, it was a little loose dough. Let this sit for about 5-10 mins.

Pour about 2 cups of ghee on top of this mixture - I just used melted butter - did not wait for it to become ghee...figured that would happen in the process of cooking. You will need to cover the entire surface with a nice layer of ghee. Now, switch on the gas in a low flame and start mixing.

Now - pull out that patience you have - and stand there and keep mixing it for a while. IF you leave this and walk away to check email or to take a shower - forget the mysore pak - and eat a piece of hersheys instead! This step needs patience and strong hands. Keep stirring the mixture. I saved a part of the ghee on the side and kept adding it in between when the mixture looked a little dry. So, don't pour all of the ghee you have before you start.

You can see the different textures of the mix along the way while stirring in the pictures below.

When the whole mix starts coming together and kind of becoming a ball, stop the flame and pour in into a greased pan.

Press it down with a flat spatula. When its hot, start making lines. I used the same spatula to cut across. The first time you cut, don't cut into it all the way down. Just cut little under the surface. Since the mixture is still very hot, if you cut into it all the way down - you might just disturb the way its trying to settle. So, go slow. Once you have done the vertical stripes, do the horizontal stripes - also just below the surface. Now, you kind of have added little airways for the mixture to cool internally. Now, go back and do the vertical stripes again - this time, go all the way to the bottom of the pan. Repeat with the horizontal stripes. You are done. Just leave the pan like that for about an hour or so to cool down completely.

Enjoy your easy mysore pak!

Submitting this as an entry to 'State Specials' Event hosted by Shanthi Krishnakumar's cookbook. Thanks Shanthi for hosting!