mysore pak

Heat 1 tea spoon ghee and add gram flour.

On a medium flame, fry till nice aroma comes out of it and it turns slightly brownish. Take care not to burn, it burns easily, so make sure to keep stirring it. Take it out on a plate and keep aside.

Mix sugar with 1/2 cup water and bring it to boil, keep mixing with a spoon.

When it is boiling, and you can see rapid boiling, add the fried four and mix (do not wait till it forms syrup).

Now add 1 tbl spoon ghee at a time, keep mixing all the time. When all ghee is done, keep mixing continuously. If you stop mixing for a min, you will see the mixture has lots of air in it and when you start mixing again, the air goes off.


When the mixture starts leaving edges and looks a bit dry, add cardamom, mix well and pour it into a greased plate and flatten immediately.

Keep the plate tilted at an angle, this way, all the extra ghee comes out of the Mysore pak and you get very dry pieces. Cut into desired shapes.

Makes about 15 pieces
Preparation time : 1 hour

These are some very important notes to keep in mind
- If the flour remains half fried(roasted), it gives a different taste. So make sure not to skip the first step of frying/roasting it well.
- The plate where you pour the mixture should be greased with ghee and kept ready before you even start heating the water because you cannot spend time on greasing it when the mixture is ready to be poured. You have to work very fast at this point.
- Always keep the plate at an angle to remove extra ghee.
- Never try to make this dish on a high flame, it gets burnt very easily, so start with a cool, patient mind :D.
- Cut into pieces when it is still warm. When it is completely cooled, it crumbles very easily.
- Take out from the heat when the mixture looks quite dry and looks like froth. If you take out early, it wont get solid after cooling. This step comes only with practice.

Ingredients:
1 cup gram flour(besan)
1 cup sugar
1 cup ghee
1/2 tea spn cardamom powder