Dal badam chakki

Dal flour and ground almond set as a fudge and cut in slices, which is what chakki means.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (khoa).

Ingredients

• 200 g moong dal flour, or gram flour
• 150 g almonds, ground fine
• 150 g mawa, or khoa
• 180 g ghee
• 300 g granulated sugar
• 150 ml water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• a large pinch of saffron
• 30 g pistachios, slivered

Method

1. DAL FLOUR AND GROUND ALMOND ARE SET AS A FUDGE AND CUT IN SLICES, WHICH IS WHAT CHAKKI MEANS. Its article gives the composition and then the name, and the name settles the form: it MAINLY CONSISTS OF ALMOND, MOONG DAL FLOUR OR MOGAR (GRAM FLOUR), MAWA (CONDENSED MILK), GHEE (CLARIFIED BUTTER) AND SUGAR, and the word CHAKKI IS DERIVED FROM SANSKRIT WORD CHAKRIKA AND REFERS TO CUT SLICE OF FUDGE. So it is poured and cut, not rolled into balls.
2. AND THE NAME IS THE INGREDIENT LIST TOO. The article breaks it into three words: DAL REFERS TO LENTIL AND BADAM/SUPHAL REFERS TO ALMONDS WHICH ARE USED AS MAIN INGREDIENTS. Both lead, in roughly equal weight.
3. ROAST THE DAL FLOUR IN THE GHEE FIRST, AND SLOWLY. Twenty minutes over a low heat, stirred the whole time, until it loosens, darkens a shade and smells of biscuits. Underdone dal flour tastes raw through everything else.
4. THE GROUND ALMOND GOES IN FOR THE LAST FIVE MINUTES ONLY. Almond browns fast and bitter.
5. THE MAWA IS STIRRED IN OFF THE HEAT. It will loosen the mixture. That is expected and the syrup brings it back.
6. MAKE THE SYRUP TO ONE THREAD AND POUR IT IN ALL AT ONCE. Sugar and water boiled four or five minutes with the saffron. Stir hard: it looks wrong for a minute, then comes together.
7. SET IT TWO CENTIMETRES DEEP AND SCORE IT WARM. A greased tray, pressed level, pistachios pressed in, scored into diamonds after ten minutes.
8. CUT IT COLD, AFTER THREE HOURS. It should break with a short, sandy crumb rather than bend. Its article places the sweet in Marwari cooking and particularly in Jodhpur.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes