Cashew Mysore Pak

Recipe for a modified version of Mysore Pak with cashews.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup organic chickpea flour / gram flour (besan in Hindi, kadalai maavu in Tamil)

1/4 cup raw cashews soaked in water for 2 hours

1 tsp poppy seeds soaked in water for 2 hours

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup ghee + a bit more for greasing a pan, melted

Method:

  1. Grease a 9x9 pan with ghee and set aside
  2. Roast the gram flour over low heat in a heavy-bottomed vessel until it is somewhat fragrant and loses its raw smell.
  3. Mix the besan with half the ghee to make a paste and set aside
  4. Grind the soaked cashews and poppy seeds together with very little water and set aside
  5. In the same heavy-bottomed vessel, dissolve the sugar in the water over medium heat, reduce to low heat and keep stirring. The sugar syrup needs to reach the one-string consistency or soft ball stage, at approximately 240F. (Click here for Sanjeev Kapoor's notes on this.)
  6. Immediately add the besan paste and ground cashew mixture in to the sugar syrup
  7. Keep stirring over low heat adding the remaining ghee a little at a time until it starts leaving the side of the vessel, around 10-15 mins
  8. Pour into the greased pan and flatten the surface
  9. When it cools just a little, use a sharp knife and slice through to make pieces
  10. Let it cool all the way, remove from pan and store it in an airtight container to enjoy!