Indian Cuisine

Mysore Pak

Name: Mysore Pak
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes (plus 1 hour setting)
Yield: 16–20 pieces
Ingredients: 200 g besan (chickpea flour / gram flour), sifted; 300 g white sugar, caster or granulated; 150 ml water; ¾ cup pure ghee, 2 tbsp for roasting besan, remainder added gradually during cooking; null neutral oil or additional ghee, for greasing the tray

The Royal Sweet of Karnataka. Three Ingredients, One Legendary Texture

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There is a particular satisfaction to biting into a piece of Mysore Pak: the way it yields in the first moment, then crumbles apart in soft, porous layers that melt before you've finished chewing. It is buttery without being greasy, sweet without being cloying, and deeply, warmly fragrant with roasted chickpea flour and ghee. Nothing about it announces itself loudly. It simply delivers.

The story goes that this sweet was invented in the Mysore Palace kitchen in the early 20th century by a royal cook named Kakasura Madappa, who was asked to prepare something new for Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV. What he produced with three pantry staples (chickpea flour, sugar, and ghee) became one of India's most recognizable sweets and gave the city of Mysore one of its most lasting culinary legacies. The royal kitchens of Karnataka's Wodeyar dynasty were known for their refinement, and Mysore Pak stands as quiet proof that refinement doesn't require complexity.

What you get from this recipe is a sweet that rewards attention. The texture (crumbly, slightly porous, not dense) depends on two things: how well you roast the besan, and how steadily you add the hot ghee. Rush either step and you end up with something fudgy and heavy rather than the airy, melt-in-the-mouth result you're after. The ghee goes in gradually, tablespoon by tablespoon, while the mixture foams and hisses and slowly transforms.

The practical insight that matters most: have your ghee hot and your tray greased before you begin. Once the mixture is ready, it sets fast.

At a Glance

Yield

16–20 pieces

Prep

10 minutes

Cook

25 minutes

Total

35 minutes (plus 1 hour setting)

Difficulty

Medium

Ingredients

16–20 pieces

2¼ cupbesan (chickpea flour / gram flour), sifted
1½ cupwhite sugar, caster or granulated
⅔ cupwater
¾ cuppure ghee, 2 tbsp for roasting besan, remainder added gradually during cooking
—neutral oil or additional ghee, for greasing the tray

Method

1
Prepare your tray and ghee. Grease a 20x20cm tray (or similar) generously with ghee or neutral oil. Set aside. Heat all 200g of ghee in a small saucepan until it is quite hot but not smoking. Keep it warm on low heat throughout the process. The ghee must be hot when added to the mixture.
2
Roast the besan. In a heavy-bottomed kadai or wide pan, heat 2 tablespoons of ghee over medium-low heat. Add the sifted besan (200 g) and roast, stirring constantly with a flat spatula, for 8–10 minutes until it turns a shade deeper, smells nutty and fragrant, and feels slightly heavier in the pan. Do not rush this. Raw besan has a bitter taste that only roasting removes. Set the roasted besan aside in a bowl.
3
Make the sugar syrup. In a large, wide, heavy-bottomed pan, combine the sugar (300 g) and 150ml water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Continue cooking without stirring until you reach a one-string consistency: when you take a small drop between your thumb and forefinger and pull apart, it forms a single clean thread. This is the right stage. Do not cook further.
4
Add the besan. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the roasted besan to the syrup all at once, stirring vigorously and continuously to prevent lumps. The mixture will be thick and sticky. Keep stirring.
5
Add ghee gradually. Begin adding the hot ghee, one tablespoon at a time, stirring continuously after each addition. The mixture will foam and bubble dramatically each time ghee is added. That is correct. Keep stirring and keep adding ghee, one tablespoon every 30–45 seconds. The mixture will slowly become porous and aerated as it absorbs the fat.
6
Watch for the ready sign. Continue until the mixture stops absorbing ghee, begins to leave the sides of the pan cleanly, and has a slightly grainy, porous appearance. The color deepens to a golden amber. The whole process of adding ghee takes approximately 10–12 minutes. Do not overwork once it reaches this stage.
7
Pour and cut. Immediately pour the mixture into your prepared tray. Working quickly, use a greased flat spatula or the back of a greased spoon to level the surface lightly. Do not press down hard. Allow to cool for 10–12 minutes until just firm but still warm. Cut into squares or diamonds using a sharp greased knife. Do not wait until it is fully cold or it will crack unevenly.
8
Set completely. Leave the cut pieces in the tray until completely cool, about 45–60 minutes. The pieces will firm up further and develop their characteristic crumbly texture as they cool.