Sukhdi – sweet
In Gujarati, the word ‘SUKH’ means happiness and I guess that’s where the name came from. Some families call this sweet dish ‘Gor Papdi’ We call Jaggery, Gor or Gud and usually it is shaped thinly therefore the word Papdi. Jaggery is healthier sweetener than sugar. I grew up using jaggery in lot of dishes at home. I love most of the desserts with jaggery. As a kid, our moms would stuff jaggery and ghee in hot rotis for us.
I always tend to make Sukhdi when cravings hit. So, out of blue last week I had a craving and I have been stuffing my face with Sukhdi all weeklong. It’s really one of those sweets, you can make on whim and it’s so easy specially if you are making small portions and the best thing is the ingredients are readily available at homes. So, no going out to buy anything.
In winters, our house would be filled with ‘winter sweets’ the ones we usually make only during winter and its filled with spices to keep you warm in winter months. Jaggery is often used in these sweets as jaggery also helps with warmness.
The benefit of Sukhdi is its prepared with very few ingredients and it can stay fresh for a long period of time. We treat it as a health bar, lol and it can be easily carried with you while traveling.
If you ask any Gujarati, they always relatd Sukhdi to a religious place famous for offering this as prasad or holy food in one of the temples. I have yet to try that famous Sukhdi.
My mom makes the best Sukhdi, its an easy recipe but it can go south very easily too.
Traditional Sukhdi uses very few ingredients – flour, jaggery and ghee. In traditional Sukhdi we never add almond meal. If you know me, I like to add almond meal in lot of Indian recipes including chapatis, rotis, lot of sweets, porridge etc.
Simplest ‘Sukhdi’ does not even have nuts in them. It tastes great that way too.
The ingredients for Sukhdi
Flour, ghee and Jaggery are the three main ingredients. The rest are optional for additional flavor to them. You cannot sub any other flour. Ghee can be substituted by unsalted butter, but ghee does wonders to the taste and it is traditional way of making it so I would highly suggest you use ghee. Instead of jaggery, you can use palm sugar that comes in blocks and looks very similar to jaggery. Jaggery also comes in different shades of brown from lighter to darker colors and that would affect the product. I have used dark jaggery and so the color of sukhdi is intense brown.
I have used coconut chips and fennel seeds in this recipe, but if you are not fond of it you can simply not add those two ingredients. Some people also use dry desiccated coconut. If you like you can roast the nuts and coconut chips in ghee before you add it to the flour. Remove the roasted nuts and coconut and then proceed with the recipe.
You cook the flour in ghee until its nutty in aroma and then once that’s done, we add the jaggery and the flame has to be put out almost immediately because the jaggery starts melting too much and creates caramelization and can make it tough in texture.
I turn the heat to the lowest setting when I add jaggery and keep stirring it and mixing it until it gets dissolved and you can visually see that. Often, you can turn off the flame after roasting the flour and immediately add jaggery and it will melt and get mixed in with the residual heat.
The idea is to not let that jaggery start cooking too much as it is temperamental like sugar and easily can go from soft ball stage to hard ball stage.
Roasting the nuts is also important to get rid off raw flavor.
Storing these is very easy. Store them in airtight container at rom temperature. If you use milk, then please store it in the refrigerator after 2 days.
Sukhdi (Sweet)
Ingredients
- 1 cup wholewheat flour
- 3/4 cup ghee
- 3/4 cup jaggery finely chopped use 1/2 cup if you prefer less sweet
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds roughly crushed
- 1 tbsp shredded dry coconut or chips
- 1 tbsp almond silvers
- 1 tbsp pistachios
Instructions
- Grease a tray or thali with a little bit of ghee. Leave it aside.
- Heat ghee in a pan on medium high.
- Add flour and roast the flour on low to medium heat, keep stirring continuously. Do not leave it unattended.
- Once the flour starts roasting, the mixture will loosen up and feel lighter about 10 minutes into roasting. It will also look slightly darker brown in color and start releasing the smell.
- At this stage, add almond flour and mix, roast for another minute or so. Add roughly crushed fennel seeds.
- Turn off the flame or keep it at very low setting. Add jaggery and quickly stir everything. Keep heat at very low setting at this stage.
- As you observe the jaggery melting and getting incorporated into the flour, turn off the heat. Do not overcook at this stage, it’s very important. Sometimes, I turn off the heat as soon as I add jaggery and let the residual heat melt it.
- Pour the mixture into a greased tray or thali and press the mixture evenly with the help of back of the spatula. Flatten the mixture.
- Sprinkle almonds, coconut, pistachios if using. Lightly press them with spatula for them to stick.
- Let it cool for 5 minutes then cut into the desired shape using a sharp knife.
- Let it cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature.
- If the mixture does not come along and looks crumbly, you can add 2 tbsp milk.
Notes
You may use palm sugar blocks instead of jaggery.
If you prefer less sweet, use ½ cup of jaggery.
Add milk, if the mixtures looks crumbly and does not come along. Adding milk reduces the shelf life. Did you try this recipe? Tag @pistachiodoughnut and hashtag #pistachiodoughnutrecipes
XO, Devangi