Shakarpare

Shakarpare are amazing. There are different versions made throughout the country, but no big shock, I think Punjabi shakarpare are the best.

With Diwali around the corner, I can’t help but start making my favorite snacks, shakarpare being on the top of that list. The outside is crusted with a sugar glaze, then you hit the crunchy dough, and the inside is still chewy and melts in your mouth. How could you not love it. Also, I am eating them by the handful as I type this.

Diwali is an amazing time of year. Everyone is in a great mood. You spend loads of time with friends and family. And the amount of food is unreal. It keeps you in a food coma all month, or so it seems. As Diwali would draw closer we would all request our favorite snack. With preparations starting up to a week before Diwali it seemed as though our only job was to terrorize whomever was in charge of making said snack, by consistently empty the jars when no one was looking. The fact that anything actually showed up on the serving table on Diwali day is still a surprise.

Like papdi, shakarpare are best when made with maida, or all purpose flour. We don’t tend to use all purpose flour often, but it is the go to for cakes, pastries, noodles, and fried crispy snacks like this.

There are 3 predominant forms of pare in India, although one isn’t a para as far as Punjabi’s are concerned. Before I confuse you more, allow me to explain. In the rest of the country there are 3 basic pare. Gud-pare, which are made with jaggery. Shakar-pare, which are made with sugar. Lastly, namak-pare, which are made with salt. In Punjab, we don’t call it a namakpara, we call it papdi, hence in Punjab there are gudpare and shakarpare, only. The reason in Punjab there is a distinction between papdi and pare is mostly because of the cooking methodology. In the rest of the country they really just swap sugar out for salt or visa versa. In Punjab we coat pare in a jaggery or sugar syrup, and papdi is just fried.

This recipe is easy once you get the hang of it. The first time I made this snack I really struggled with making sure the outside was crispy and the inside was still chewy. It’s really easy to either make it too hard all the way through or raw in the center. For that reason alone I make mine a little smaller and thinner. That and then I can trick myself into thinking I’ve eaten way too many. But I can promise once you get the hang of these you’ll keep a jar handy. Store these in an airtight container to avoid them getting soggy or stale.

Oooooh may the dessert train never stop:

Shakarpare

Course: DessertCuisine: PunjabiDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Total Time

55

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• For the pare:

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 3 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil

• 1 cup water

• oil for frying

• For the chashni:

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup water

• 7 cardamom pods (elaichi)

Equipment/Specialty Items

• Green CardamomGreen Cardamom

Directions

• Dough:
• In a medium sized bowl add in the flour and ghee (or vegetable oil).
• Pour water in small quantities as you start to knead the dough.
• Add in extra flour or water to get a nice firm consistency. You don’t want the dough to be too hard or too gooey.
• Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
• Rolling and cutting:
• Divide the dough into two halves. This makes it easier to work with.
• Roll dough till it’s 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
• Slice the dough vertically, creating 1 inch wide strips.
• Slice the dough horizontally, creating 1 inch squares.
• Check to make sure they squares are a 1/4-1/2 thick. Much thicker and cooking them will take double frying and quite a bit longer. Thinner and you’ll end up with papdi.
• Frying:
• In medium size pot pour 2-3 inches of oil.
• Heat oil over medium heat till lightly smoking.
• Fry in batches till the pieces are a reddish golden brown. You may want to try one to make sure they’re cooked through. The outside should be crisp and crunchy, and the inside should be just slightly chewy.
• Remove and set aside on a few paper towels and a cooking rack.
• Chashni:
• In a small saucepan add in sugar, water, and cardamom.
• Over medium heat dissolve the sugar and continue to cook till your mixture gets syrupy. You want this to be thick enough to coat the shakarpare.
• To check the consistency, spoon out a small bit of the syrup and once it’s cool enough to handle dip your forefinger in. Then press your forefinger and your thumb together. You should see strands of sugar forming between them.
• Once you’ve reached the correct syrupy texture turn off the heat and allow your syrup to cool for 2 minutes.
• Add in the fried pare and quickly stir coating them evenly. You want to do this somewhat quickly so that your syrup doesn’t crystallize on you.
• Remove the shakarpare from the syrup and put onto a plate. You may need to separate them so that they’re not one giant ball of sugar dough.
• Cool to room temperature and allow the sugar to crystallize.
• Serve:
• Serve with masala chai or adrak di cha.
• Store in an airtight container.

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