Mysore pak

Mysore pak

Course	Dessert
Place of origin	India
Region or state	Karnataka
Main ingredients	Ghee, sugar, gram flour.
Media: Mysore pak

Mysore pak is a sweet dish of Karnataka, India, usually served as dessert. It is made of generous amounts of ghee (clarified butter), sugar and gram flour. Pak or Paka in Kannada means the sugar syrup or generally paka is also referred as a dish resembling to nalapaka and bhimapaka.

History

Legend is that Mysore pak was first created in the kitchens of the Mysore Palace by a palace cook named Kakasura Madappa out of the above ingredients. The cook at the Mysore Palace kitchen simply made a concoction of besan, ghee and sugar. The sweet that was formed delighted the royalties so much that it became a "Royal Sweet". When asked its name, Madappa obviously didn't have its name, so he simply called it the ‘Mysore pak’, a delicacy from the Mysore Palace. The king relished the sweet so much that he got Madappa to set up shop outside the palace grounds so that it could be made available to common people.

Recipe

The method of preparation is as follows

1 measure : Gram flour (kadale hittu)

2 measures : Sugar

1 measure : Ghee

1/2 measure : Water

Before beginning, set aside a plate greased with ghee.

Method:

Step 1: Add 2 tsp of ghee into a thick bottomed vessel and start roasting the gram flour until it starts changing its color. After that, set it aside.

Step 2: Add the sugar to the water and dissolve it. Now start heating it on the flame. Continue heating the sugar syrup until you get the consistency. The right consistency is when you add the sugar syrup on a cold plate and it settles down as a heavy drop instead of flowing like water.

Step 3: Now start heating the ghee on low flame by the side on a thick bottomed vessel.

Step 4: Once the sugar solution consistency is reached add the flour little by little stirring the sugar solution and making sure no lumps are formed

Step 5: After the gram flour is mixed well, add hot ghee into the gram and sugar solution until you have emptied the entire ghee. Also make sure not to stop stirring.

Step 6: Keep watching out for the color change in the solution. The minute color of the solution starts changing to orange, grab the greased plate and pour the hot mixture into hit.

Step 7: Set aside the hot mixture for 10 - 30 mins until it has solidified. Once it has cooled and has solidified, cut the mysore pak into pieces.

See also

• Cuisine of Karnataka