Khurma or Shakkarpara

Khurma or Shakkarpara 

This particular snack is not only famous in India but also famous outside India like Fiji (where it is called lakdi mithai), Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, Guyana, etc.

According to many food historians, the origin of Shakarpare can be said to be in ‘shekarpareh,’ which is a sweet pastry snack from the Iranian cuisine.

Finger snacks are mandatory presentations on the occasion of Holi. Holi, also known as the Festival of Color, is a Hindu holiday that originated in India, but is now celebrated all over the world. 

As people start playing colors from morning to noon and visit neighbors and family members smeared with wet or dry colors on face and body, it is customery to offer them finger food which is dry so that they can easily eat them without mess. Khurma or Shakkarpara is one of such snacks. It is highly addictive and easy to make at home. Just needs a handful of ingredients. 

Khurma is a piece of fried flour which has been coated with sugar. It’s highly addictive! In a way it’s exactly similar to Namakpara minus the salt and spices.

Like most fried Indian snacks, the process is quite simple. You make the dough with some oil added to it and then deep fry it.

As always remember to deep fry on medium heat else the khurma will not turn out very soft.

Recipe

Ingredients:

* 2 cups all purpose flour 

* 4-5 tablespoons oil, I used desi ghee for moyan

* Water to knead the dough, little more than 1/4 cup (60 ml)

* oil for frying

For Sugar Syrup or chashni

* 2 cups granulated white sugar 400 grams

* 1/3-1/2 cup water

Method:

1. Take flour in a large bowl and then and add oil to it.

2. Rub the oil into the flour using your fingers.

Press some flour between your palm- it should form a shape (& not crumble) - means oil is enough and well incorporated.

3. Start adding water little by little, until the dough just comes together. Don't make a soft dough, we are looking for a little stiff dough here. Cover the dough and let rest for 15 minutes.

4. After 15 minutes, divide the dough into 3 parts. Smooth and roll one part like a thick roti, around 1/4 inch thickness. And then cut it into whatever shape you desire. At my home, we always made khura in a square shape (sort of!) so I did the same.

5. Repeat with the remaining dough balls until all dough is finished.

6. Khurma should be little thick as you can see in this picture above. Don't roll the dough too thin. It should be thick.

7. Heat oil in a pan on medium heat and add khurma to it. Make sure oil is not hot. To test you can add a little piece of dough to the oil, it should come up gradually.

If it comes up immediately, it means your oil is too hot and you need to lower down the heat.

8. Fry the khurma on medium-low heat until it turns light golden in color. It will take around 7-8 minutes for it to get done. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel.

9. Meanwhile, in another pot, add sugar, water and put the pan on high heat. Stir until the sugar melts, in around 2 minutes.

10. After the sugar melts, lower the heat to medium and let the sugar simmer for 2-3 more minutes. So in total we boil the sugar syrup only for around 5 minutes.

11. Then add the fried khurma and stir. With the heat on medium, stir for 2 more minutes as the syrup thickens , then switch off the heat

12. The syrup will continue to thicken. Keep stirring. Remember the heat is off at this point.

13. The sugar crystallizes in around 7-8 minutes and starts coating the khurma. Stir every 2 minutes or so.

All the khurma pieces are well coated with the sugar and now cool them and store in an airtight container.