Mysore pak

Mysore pak or Mysore paak must be one of the most popular sweets in Karnataka. It is one of my all time favorite sweets. But there are different kinds of Mysore pak available in market. When I was a kid, they were always long rectangular shaped(as in this picture). They used to be solid, very porous, melt in the mouth kind of sweets. But these days we get them either like semi solid ones with dripping ghee or even if they are solid ones, they don’t have pores in them, so they are too hard, they are very light in color (almost the color of besan). Somehow I don’t like this variety. Though both are still Mysore paks and there are many fans for both types, but I like only the first one.

Since this is my hubby’s favorite too, I asked my aayi if she knew how to make these. She said when she was just married, she used to make these very regularly. When she was here, she even wanted to give me a demo, but somehow we never got to make this at that time. She gave me the exact steps to make this. She also said after sometime she had stopped making these at home since they were readily available in markets and also she clearly knew the response to any sweets at our home.

So after keeping this recipe without being tried for about 4-5months, I thought it is high time to give it a try. Since there are just 6 days left for Diwali, I thought this is the best time. Frankly, I didn’t have much hopes when I started. Even though I have 100% faith in my aayi’s recipes, I have a natural talent for messing up the dishes. These got ready in about 45mins and I had got one of the best Mysore paks, just the way I loved them. They were very porous, light, solid, crunchy. I have cut them in the shape available in bakeries, the color also came out perfect.

If I say I am on 7th sky, it won’t be wrong. Two days straight, I have been very happy. Yesterday, I had a major breakthrough in my project and I almost danced in front of everyone. My boss, who always thinks I am a quiet girl, started laughing when I was jumping with joy. Today, even though a mere sweet is nothing compared to that success, I am too happy, just can’t express in words :).

This is my first entry to Vee’s Diwali special JFI. I did a lot of circus today to take pictures with one hand while I was mixing the contents with other hand. So pardon the poor quality of most of the photos.

Ingredients:
1 cup gram flour(besan)
1 cup sugar
1 cup ghee
1/2 tea spn cardamom powder

Normally 2 cups of ghee for 1 cup flour is used, I think that makes the texture still better. But I am very satisfied with the texture for amount of ghee I used.

Method:
Heat 1 tea spn ghee and add gram flour.

On a medium flame, fry till nice aroma comes out of it and it turns slightly brownish. Take care not to burn, it burns easily, so make sure to keep stirring it. Take it out on a plate and keep aside.

Mix sugar with 1/2 cup water and bring it to boil, keep mixing with a spoon.

When it is boiling, and you can see rapid boiling, add the fried four and mix (do not wait till it forms syrup).

 

Now add 1 tbl spn ghee at a time, keep mixing all the time. When all ghee is done, keep mixing continuously. If you stop mixing for a min, you will see the mixture has lots of air in it and when you start mixing again, the air goes off.

 

When the mixture starts leaving edges and looks a bit dry, add cardamom, mix well and pour it into a greased plate and flatten immediately.

Keep the plate tilted at an angle, this way, all the extra ghee comes out of the Mysore pak and you get very dry pieces. Cut into desired shapes.

 

Makes about 12-14 pieces
Preparation time : 45mins

PS: These are some very important notes to keep in mind
– If the flour remains half fried(roasted), it gives a different taste. So make sure not to skip the first step of frying/roasting it well.
– The plate where you pour the mixture should be greased with ghee and kept ready before you even start heating the water because you cannot spend time on greasing it when the mixture is ready to be poured. You have to work very fast at this point.
– Always keep the plate at an angle to remove extra ghee.
– Never try to make this dish on a high flame, it gets burnt very easily, so start with a cool, patient mind :D.
– Cut into pieces when it is still warm. When it is completely cooled, it crumbles very easily.
– Take out from the heat when the mixture looks quite dry and looks like froth. If you take out early, it wont get solid after cooling. This step comes only with practice. 

95 thoughts on “Mysore pak”

  1. Shilpa…Perfect and yummy mysore pak. I am going to try this tomorrow exactly the way you mentioned. It looks perfect like the onces avble in native place. The best i have eaten till date are ones from Karkala, specially ordered. Let me see if i can beat their taste and the porus ness. Thanks a ton shilpa for posting this a few days before Diwali.

    Shilpa: Aruna, let me know how they turn out. I was thinking to start Diwali postings 2 weeks in advance. But due to one reason or other, it kept on getting postponed. I am happy atleast I have started with it now.

  2. Hey Shilpa,

    This is one of my favourite sweets. My grand mom also used to make it very often. She also made the harder type of the Mysore pak. Today, I was anyways thinking of cooking something tasty during this weekend for the festival season. Your recipe came at an excellent time. Will definitely try it tomorrow.

    Thanks!

  3. Yummmmmm…….

    Shilpa, you got me drooling on the beautiful pics!! This is one sweet which
    is liked by all at my place. Thanks for the tips.

  4. Shilpaaaaaa…wow…this one is my fave, hub’s and my bro’s fave! must make it now-that its come from you!!n i know exactly by what u mean by porus ,mouth melting ones! sadly they stopped after a while! tks for giving lovely stepwise expln and for taking efforts to post photos!they help as a guide in texture, shall revert with feed back! Congrats on ur success in project! nothing better than kind of sweets..Mysore Pak!!

  5. your account on the changing faces of Mysore pak is so true:) i remember in my aunt’s wedding (times when there we no caterers and we employed cooks who cooked for all functions in our family)only this type of mysore pak was served. but these days people prefer only the soft version (i believe cashewnut paste and even khoya is mixed to get this… but that’s not true mysore pak). My mom taught me first only the old version.. the mixture gets porous and that’s when it’s ready to be poured onto a thali… but these days she also makes the soft version:( good that you’ve revived the original form:)) Happy Diwali to you, Shilpa

  6. Hi Shilpa,
    The Mysore pak looks very delicious and authentic. With your very detail notes and pictures i am going to try it for diwali. Will let u know how it turns out. Thanks a lot for the wonderful recipe!
    And congrats dear on your project breakthrough! Happiness is very good thing 🙂 So enjoy!
    Cheers
    Latha

  7. I made Mysore Pak too.I followed Latha’s (YUM blog)recipe which a has a fabulous color and texture. It was good although I find very hard to take them out on the right time!! Your’s looks great. Enjoy!:)

  8. Hey Shilpa,

    You can’t imagine how excited i am that you are talking about the soild, porous Mysore Pak! really, thats how i ate it as a child! We have a similar sweet in Punjab villages called Messoo (i think it was born from Mysore Pak)-which still is sold as solid, porous sweet (that is if its sold anymore)…..the new Mysore Pak is tasty, but its not Mysore Pak, rather more like barfi! Thanks a ton, for getting the real deal back to limelight! This is making me dance! i associate lots of sweet memories of my childhood enjoying Messoo on special days, like the day exam results would be announced…..Thanks a lot, again!

  9. Hey! congratulations! on the breakthrough with the project at work and also making the mysore pak. I think I will work up the courage to try making it someday soon!

    Hope your Diwali prepartions are coming along well.

  10. PERFECT!!! Even I love the solid-crunch type of mysore paak! THe soft one is too full of ghee for my liking!
    I should so like to try this!!! I am thinking maybe Laxmi Poojan will be an ideal day for trying this!!
    Thank U so much!
    HAPPY DIWALI to both of u!!!

  11. Mysore Pak..the ultimate cooking challenge and you seemed to have mastered it Shilpa!
    Me too like the solid, porous ones. That was the only mysor paak I knew till Nandini marketed with that soft-gheeish version.

    Happy Deepavali to You and Your Family.

  12. Oh Shilpa, this is one of my favorite sweets, but I haven’t tried making it yet- a bit nervous about it turning out well I suppose. But, with your step-by-step guide with photos you’ve made it look easy, and the result is perfect! I just made a large batch of ghee so I have no excuse now do I?

  13. I love this sweet…and in the same way u like it too.. porous ones. But i like the other ones too..the ghe dipping variety…anything which is sweet, i love it no matter in what form 😉
    Thanks for sharing this authentic recipe Shilpa. Will bookmark this for sure.

    Happy Deepavali !

  14. Shilpa, tks got 12 yummy pcs..now reduced as hubby ate them. Complimented too that these were good! (Very rare occurrence!)Thks again for all your ‘Circus’ ie. photos 😀 they paid off well!

  15. its one of my favourit sweet. But i too prepare this in different ratio. Its comes soft and soomth to our mouth. same as Nandini and kesaridas Mysorepak.

    Ratio is 1 cup gram floor (raosted)

    1 cup water
    2 cup sugar
    2 cup Ghee.

    I used to live in Boise. all my friends used to this way.. My friends try this way also.

    its not a easy to prepare this recipe as its has trouble to exprect . Good try .. mouthwater….. i will to prepare this for dwali……….

  16. I love visiting your website every now and then. your descriptions are very clear and simple. Only suggestion is if you could mention the number of servings for your recipes in teh future.
    Keep up the good work!

  17. Sorry! you can ignore my earlier comment on the servings. this recipe mentioned 12-14 servings at the tail end. i overlooked it totally 🙁

  18. heh shilpa – I concur; growing up, we used to have a lot of mysore-pak and it was all porous as you described and very ‘crumbly/crunchy.’ The one we get nowadays are very ‘solid sweet ghee.’ My cousins just brought some from India and I was having a piece after dinner – yes, solid ghee – and it was giving me a headache.

    The ones you made look delicious! Congrats! and for the work breakthrough too!

  19. shilpa – wonderful reciped. thank you .but i tried this today ,, but erroneously removed it from flame a tad too early i think before it became hard and poured it onto the greased plate ,… now its just not hardening up . Do i reheat this , or is it justa wasted effort :(do hope i can fix it shilpa ..:((

    Shilpa: Priya, I don’t think now it can be saved :(. But you can try. Watch for froths in the mixture next time…that time it is almost done.

  20. I have to try this sometime. I’m a Mysore Pak fanatic. Usually i’m too busy to make anything elaborate so I have a cool shortcut I use to make instant mysore pak in the microwave. got it from some site. Try it. Its AMAZING!

    lightly fry one cup besan flour on a tawa withiut oil. Combine it with i cup ghee in a microwavable dish and heat on high for a minute. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and heat on high for 2 minutes. Now add 2 tbsp milk, mix well and heat on high for a minute. Pour on a greased dish and let it set. Voila! Instant gratification. It tastes awesome too.

  21. Hi Shilpa,

    I am an avid but silent visitor to aayisrecipes since a long time. I love the recipes you post and also the pictorial step by step preparation method.
    I always thought mysore pak is a difficult sweet to make at home. But today I made it, for a Diwali potluck party, by following your recipe. It took me less than 45mins (Thanks to all your efforts and pics) and believe it or not got it good on the very first try. It tastes like a professional’s handiwork and everyone loved it. So I just wanted to thank you for posting this easy recipe. Keep it coming.
    Wish you and your family a very Happy Deepavali!!!

  22. Hi shilpa,

    The pictures are amazing & mouth watering.I was thinking of preparing a easy sweet dish for lakshmi puja.So,i saw ur blog & just prepared,it has come very well.Now,even i can say to my family that i can prepare mysore pak.
    Happy diwali

  23. Shilpa… Firstly i must thank you for posting such a illustrative step by step process of making mysoorpak. I made it last evening. It was out of the world. I got 10 pieces all finished.

    Your recipe beat Karkal mam’s mysorepak ( I used to eat only the one my pacchi send from Karkala made by one ranpo, who sells it throughout the year)

  24. Hi Shilpa,
    I’m a newcomer to your recipe site – I chanced upon it while googling for an ambat recipe, and have kept coming back again and again, whenever I need a typical amchi recipe. I came straight to your blog while planning ahead for Diwali, and very eagerly tried the mysore pak – many thanks for posting it in such detail, with the photos telling me exactly when to do what!

    But I’m sorry to say, my mysore pak just did NOT come out right… basically it didn’t get bubbly and porous when set – turned into a flat burfi kind of shape, and it took nearly six hours to dry!!!

    I blame the ghee I was using (maybe I’m wrong?!) The ghee was quite porridgy in consistency, so perhaps the proportions were all wrong. And there was definitely an unusual, strong flavour to the final product, which could only have come from the ghee.

    If you, or any of the other regulars on the site can tell me what I might have done wrong, I’d appreciate the advice. And if it WAS the ghee, I’d like to share this with the other amchis living in Europe (mine was bought in Amsterdam) – I was using a tin of ‘Khanum’ ghee, so do bear my experience in mind if that’s the only one available to you too!

  25. We did Mysore pak first as per recepie given and found it the difficult recepie very easy in nice test and enjoy self satisfaction.
    However I am very much thankful to Shilpa.
    For making our Diwali very sweet.
    Happy Diwali!

  26. Hi Shilpa….

    Thanks very much for this wonderful..
    lip-smacking recipe…
    Will definately give it a try

    Cheers,
    Krupa

  27. For Namrata: Yes, I have had that experience and think i may be able to point out to one or two areas to look at: you had probably taken it off the heat a little too early .. you see the end point is very critical. remove it before time and it becomes guey like you mention.. and take it out late and it becomes concrete ..the smell could be because of the ingredients.. nothing else .. and btw.. i have posted a video of an easy way of making it on youtube .. maybe it will be of some use to you
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ4dil9KGNA

  28. Hi shilpa,

    Thank you very much !!!!!!!!!! This receipe is so goooooodddddd and i tried for this diwali it came out very good in 1st short so even i was jumping like u 🙂 thanks!!!!!! sorry for posting comments so late today my friend asked me receipe and i remem. to post comment thanks.

    Sunanda

  29. Hi Shilpa,

    I prepare mysore pak yesterday for sankranthi…But did not come properly.Can you help me….
    I had 1cup of besan,sugar and ghee ….the same measurements as u mentioned.
    1. When i put the mixture in plate ,the mixture become too dry and within 5 mins the mixture become too dry as result it become all powder .
    2. I did not get that yellow color also….instead I got a light yellow (I had roasted the besan colourly )

    So can you tell why my pieces where breaking and colour aslo.

    REgards
    Manjula

    Shilpa: Manjula, may be next time you can take them out little early. I think it got cooked more. About color, I have no idea :(.

  30. Hi.

    My recipe is similar to yours except that I used 1 and quarter or ghee where as u have used 1cup.The recipe is good and thanks for the tips as it helps the first timers a lot.Good luck in ur journey to trying new recipe’s . I definitely will try this recipe.The picture looks too tempting……

    Namitha

  31. thanks for the receipe, it was so clear that even a kid can do, earlier i use to have problem with single strand pakam[ i dont know exactly what it is i never saw some one preparing sweets related to pakam in my home.

    but ur receipe was so good and clear , that even a fellow like me can do it thank u very much , iam very happy that my sweet came out good and delecious.thank u

  32. thanks for the receipe,it was easy with all those photos, i have a doubt regarding last step, all ghee started comming out at the end, so i thought it was the right time and switched off the gas, was i right r wrong please let me know, thanks.

    but my sweet tasted good and i got nice pieces,please clarify my doubt.

  33. Hi Shilpa,
    Thanks a lot for the excellent recipe. I tried it out today, and first time removed the mix too early from the heat, so it didn’t solidify on cooling. However, the 2nd time I waited longer till the extra ghee “perspired” out of the mix. I waited a bit more and only then removed it and let it set.

  34. Hi again,
    Just to add…. I took the first (failed) attempt, and reheated it till I got the “frothy” look, and let it set. It cooled and hardened beautifully, but the texture isn’t as crispy as the time when I got it right from the beginning…. Just so that people like me know that you don’t have to waste all those ingredients if you don’t get it right the first time.
    However, the 2nd one I made(which I heated for more time and waited till I got the frothy/curdled look looks and tastes just beautiful.

    Thanks again Shilpa 🙂

  35. Hey i found ur recipe so pictorially well presented that i have made it my favourite site to visit.. got to chk out the entire site right now…

  36. Hallo Shilfa,
    Your Pictures are very good like the real taste..emmm..delicious.
    I’ll try to make Mysore pak or Mysore paak with my wife.

    Thanks for the Ingredients and methods.

  37. HI Shilpa,

    Gr8 Recipe, I tried it exactly as you had said. This is my first venture and it came out gr8. I dont even remember my grandmom’s way of making, as to how it should look when its done!! Gr8 pics and excellent discription. my mysorepaks are wafer thin tho!! cos i used a large plate and pressed it real well ;( but tastes good nevertheless!!!!! thanks a million!!!

  38. Sheela Dhanasekaran

    Hai, nice presentation. It’s easy to follow your procedures for beginers. Would appreciate if you post a receipe for “MYSORE PA ” the soft one which is very famous at present.(Krishna sweets-Chennai)

  39. Shilpa garu,

    Thank you for the recipe. I have tried to make it and got very good results from the first attempt.

    I will continue to improvise and make festivals more fun.

    I am planning to try to use 30% more sugar and 50% more ghee the next time and distribute the sweets 🙂

    Thank you

  40. Hay dear
    You made it perfectly. But what I do, I heat the oil (hall oil half ghee) on another stove this oil should be real hot . and this hot oil+ghee mixture I pour spoon by spoon in to besan + suger combinatoin which I cook on another stove . So what I am doing hear I am working with two Kadhais and two stoves at a time
    1) for Besan + suger mixture on low flame in (big kadhai) and
    2) Ghee + oil mixture on high flame (on kadhai of any size

    You have to finish the whole oil pouring in less than 30 second .

    This method will cut you risk of half cooking of besan.
    Thakyou

  41. Hi Shilpa,
    Tried the Mysore pak it came out really well. But it does not have the porous like thing i mean the honeycomb structure as it has come out in your picture. It had hardened quite well. I mean the melt in mouth kind. Did i have to keep it for a longer time

  42. One of my friend recomended your step by step receipe. I tried your Mysore pak and Patholi.

    Both turned out very good.
    Thanks

  43. This is my second attempt … FIrst attempt ended like halwa … Thanks to your great recipe I could make mysore pak exactly as my husband likes it for this Diwali .. Though I doubt it would last until Oct 27th 2008

    Also 1 tip for novices like me .. Don’t be overly concerned about the besan flour clumps. As u pour more ghee, they disappear …

  44. Dear Shipa, the recent trend inmysor pak that is too soft as it melts on the mouth is like this, for 1 cup of besan, 1 3/4 cups of sugar and 1 3/4 cups of pure ghee. The simplest way is too heat the ghee, in low flame, add the besan and make it to a batter consistency. Add this paste in which the raw smell of besan is gone to 1 consistency sugar syrup, Within mts when the mixture leaves the sidea of the pan , pour on a greased tawa and cut into pieces. Here ther isno risk of the besan turning into tiny balls after putting into sugar syrup.
    Thanx a lot, Shipa you are widening my avenues in kitchen

  45. I add a pinch of baking soda towards the end of its final stir. I feel it gives it the proper texture. I think your sugar looks as if it is more to hard boil? if so …bring it one stage lower. Let me know.

  46. Hi,
    As i prepared mysore pak as you have mentioned here.
    But it has become very soft around and hard in centre, but still i feel it has not cooked properly or its overcooked, if i eat i feels that raw smell from that.

  47. Hi Shilpa,

    I make mysore pak regularly, my only problem is which type of pot to use. By your pics I assume you used non-stick pan… Back in India my mom uses brass (ittadi in telugu).. Appreciate your reply..

    Thanks and congrats on your success…
    Rama

    Shilpa: You van use any thick bottomed pan.

  48. After a huge failed attempt trying Vah Rah chef’s YouTube method, I googled and found your site. My first attempt using your method yielded wonderful mysore pak! Thank-you kindly.

  49. wel i tried this ..at first al went k…. but while addin the ghee nd mixin the ghee is still floating on top… long time i was stirrin… then it became dark brown in color… so i took it off with the ghee floating on top…i drained the ghee and cut it into squares. it s hard wel wil have it like a sweet. but wot s wrong??/ i melted the ghee for 2 cups??? s tht k or where it went wrong??

  50. One of the best presentation on Mysore Pak in the web. I also understand that yu know your end product so well. I still feel that the sugar is less in recipe as we always use besan and sugar in 1 : 2.5 ratio. Any way I’m trying it out now. Will get back to you with the results.

  51. Thanks a lot for the recipe. Came out pretty well on the first try, although my taste-buds would probably require a little more sugar.

  52. Thanks Shilpa,

    My son ( 10 years) loves Mysore Pak and he grabbed every sweet box we received for Diwali in search of Mysore Pak. My younger son ( 8 years) was always left with the other mithai.
    I will make Mysore Pak at home this Sunday. The comments everyone one have given further motivate me to try this out since my boys are fastidious.
    thanks sandra

  53. Thank you so much for this recipe. I made yummy mysore pak today.
    The step by step pics were very helpful. Loved it. Thanks once again.

  54. Thanks shilpa. Its an excellent receipe. I tried it for the first time and came out excellent,. Only thing missing was the porous texture otherwise it was excellent. I like the points at the end which is very useful for first timers.
    Thanks

  55. it came out well but it dint get solidify…my gran says i might have added besan early..i added when the bubbles started coming…or did i take it out of the heat bit earlier?

  56. Hi there! Thanks for this seemingly easy recipe. Quick question, can you kindly post a version that is microwave friendly AND soft? I don’t care for hard Mysore Pak:-( Thank you!!!!!!

  57. Fantastic recipe…..ive tried it twice and it came out really well!!Fantastic pictures,explanations and tips.iam constantly surprised that people like you exist,people who take so much effort to spread your knowledge.Thanks!!

  58. But cardamom is mostly not used in mysore pak! It tastes a lot better without the cardamom. Please do try it and i would suggest an 50% increase in ghee and 25% increase in sugar. The correct phase to take it out is to take the mixture in the ladle and pour it back. It should fall back and will create ripples like how milkmaid or thick chocolate syrup would fall. Hope u like my tips.

  59. hi shilpa,
    i have read ur dis recipe n i m now going to try dis n lets hope it eill turn out well….. fingers crossed….

  60. Hi,
    You have a lovely blog.I tried this microwave mysore pak and it was a success, i found this recipe in the hindu newspaper.You can give it a go.
    Here is the recipe:

    Microwave Mysore Pak

    Ingredients

    Besan powder: half cup
    Powdered sugar: 1cup
    Ghee: half cup
    Milk: 2 tsp

    Method
    Melt ghee in a microwave for one minute on high. Now mix all the ingredients in the melted ghee. Mix well. Microwave the mixture for three minutes. Remove the mixture in between and mix well. You can see bubbles forming on the mixture. This is the right consistency. Now remove and mix nicely and pour over a greased plate. After 10 minutes cut into pieces. Remove after it cools completely.

  61. I tried this recipe and ended up with really delicious Mysore Pak. The sweetness level and flavor were spot on, though the texture was just a little bit hard. Thanks for putting up the recipe. It was such a welcome treat to have this Diwali. Happy Diwali to you.

  62. It came out very well.I roasted the flour for 20 min (was it too long??) ,but added few more table spoons of sugar .But later I found that this addition was unnecessary as the sugar then on higher side .I didnt get the honeycomb structure but got the soft mysore pak.Anyway I am too happy to got it right after trying a failed attempt of another recipe one year back.Thank you so much ….

  63. Hmmmm…….my hubbys favourite sweet. I don’t know why but I am always a bit less ambitious to try mysore pak. Deep in my mind I have this feeling that I will screw it up. It is always a delight to read your blog, that’s why I keep coming back.

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