Mysore pak

Mysore pak
Alternative names	Mysurpa
Course	Dessert
Place of origin	India
Region or state	Tamil Nadu
Invented	1935
Main ingredients	Ghee or oil, sugar, gram flour
	Media: Mysore pak;

Mysore pak is an Indian sweet prepared in ghee that is popular in Southern India. It originated in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is made of generous amounts of ghee, sugar, gram flour, and often cardamom.^[1] The texture of this sweet is similar to fudge.^[2]

History

It is traditionally served in weddings and other festivals of southern India, and is very popular in baby showers as well.

Paaku in Tamil refers to sticky sugar syrup obtained by simmering sugar with equal amount of water; specifically for Mysore pak, the simple syrup is heated to the soft ball stage. The syrup is used as the primary sweetening agent in various Indian sweet dishes like Jalebi, Badam puri, Mysore pak and others. The syrup is flavored with various spice essences like cardamom, rose, honey etc. Paaka syrup preparation is a skilled art mastered by few cooks, some of whom keep their methods secret.

Attributes

Shape: Mysore pak is cut into squares or rectangles.
Texture: Hard and porous when made with less ghee, soft and dense when made with generous amount of ghee. Moisture from the sugar syrup escapes as steam through the greased gram-flour rendering Mysore pak porous. Excess ghee, if any, may fill in such pores rendering it dense.
Colour: Yellow to light brown due to gram flour (roasted).
Shelf life: Very little water is used in the preparation, so it can stay fresh in cool and dry place, but it should be used within one month only.