← Nouns Cooking · Indian

Ingredients

• 120 g gram flour (besan), sifted
• 250 g ghee, divided
• 250 g Sugar
• 120 ml Water

Method

1. Grease a 15–18 cm square tin with ghee. Melt the ghee, then mix the gram flour with 3 tbsp of it to a smooth, lump-free paste.
2. Keep the rest of the ghee hot in a small pan over the lowest heat.
3. In a heavy, wide pan, heat the sugar and water over medium heat, stirring until dissolved, then boil for 3–4 min to a one-string syrup: a drop pressed between finger and thumb (let it cool first) pulls into a single thread.
4. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the gram flour paste a little at a time until smooth.
5. Add the hot ghee a ladle at a time, stirring all the time. Each time it sizzles, bubbles and is absorbed, add the next. This takes 8–10 min.
6. When the mixture froths up, turns porous and pulls away from the sides of the pan, pour it straight into the tin without smoothing it too much.
7. Leave for 10 min, cut into squares while still warm, then let it set completely before separating the pieces.

Tips

• Timing is everything: pour as soon as it froths and leaves the sides, or it turns hard and crumbly.
• The ghee must be sizzling hot when it goes in; that is what creates the honeycomb texture.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Hebbar's Kitchen Archana's Kitchen