Shakkarpara are sugar coated diamond shaped biscuits that I grew up eating. I used to really enjoy eating this as a child and I thought what better to make this for my kids for Diwali? There are two versions of Shankarpali that we can find. One is the kind where the sugar is incorporated in the dough and then it is cut into pieces and deep fried. I have made that version before but made it a little more healthier by making it Baked Sakarpara. Very often I also make the spicy diamond biscuit which is a savory version of the almost similar recipe. I am a little partial towards this sugar-coated Shakkarpara when compared to the other version. The glossy white sugar layer over the crunchy biscuit is what appealed to me as a child as well as to this day. My boys totally loved this shankarpali for their weekend snacking. The making of the sugar syrup can be a little tricky, but it is not too bad. Just make sure that the syrup is really thick as otherwise, it will not crystallize properly over the shakkarpara. Also, this could make the shakkarpara become soggy. It will take a couple of trials and errors to figure it out, but if you have to make a mistake, make the sugar go over, as we can always add a little bit more water and heat it up bringing it back to the right stage. After my Coconut Gulkand Burfi and Aloo Bhujia, this is my third recipe under the theme of Diwali sweets and snacks for this week’s Blogging Marathon.
Check out my 10 different Burfis and Pedas to make this Diwali here
Check out my 10 different sacory snacks to make for Diwali here
Preparation time - 10 minutesCooking time - 45 minutesDifficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Shakkarpara - (makes about 60 pieces)
All Purpose flour / Maida - 1 ½ cups Sugar - ¾ cup Water - ½ cup Ghee - 2 TBSP Oil - for deep frying Salt - a pinch
Procedure to make Shankarpali -
To make the Dough -
Combine the flour and the salt in a bowl and add the melted ghee to it. Mix well with your fingers to combine.
Slowly add water and make a stiff dough. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
Make sure you knead the dough to a stiff consistency.
To fry the Shakkarpara
Divide the dough into 2 parts and make a ball with one of the pieces.
Slightly dust the work surface with flour and roll the dough out to a circle about ⅛th of an inch thick.
Makes diamond shape or square shape cuts in the rolled dough and separates the pieces.
Meanwhile, heat a pan with oil to fry the prepared dough. Keep the heat on low to medium.
Once the oil heats up, add a few pieces of the shaped dough into the hot oil and fry it in low flame until it is golden brown and crispy.
Make sure that you fry the shakkarpara at a very low heat or else they will not crisp up. It will take a little while for the dough to fry up, so be patient and finish frying all the pieces.
Remove the fried shakkarpara on a paper towel-lined tray. Let them cool down to room temperature before coating it with sugar syrup.
To make the sugar syrup -
Measure the sugar and add the water.
Boil the mixture on medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Keep Boiling until the syrup comes to a 2 or 3-thread consistency. The syrup will be quite sticky when it is ready and when you take a bit of syrup in between your fingers and stretch, it should form 2 or 3 strings.
At this stage turn off the flame and let the syrup cool down.
When the syrup is warm, add the fried pieces in batches remove it with a slotted spoon, and lay it on a wide tray.
Repeat the same with the rest of the pieces. If the sugar syrup crystallizes too much, you could warm it a bit and then repeat soaking the fried pieces.
Mix the coated shakkarpara pieces that are in the tray to separate them and also this air dries them.
When the mixture is completely dry, shankarpali is ready to be stored in an air-tight container.
Notes and Observations -
When kneading the dough, make sure that you knead it to a stiff dough. Fry the shakkarpara in very low heat to make them crispy. If you fry it high heat, the outside will be golden brown, but the shakkarpara will remain chewy inside. Slightly warm the sugar syrup if it becomes too thick when coating the shakkarpara. I found it easier to finish frying all the dough pieces and then make the sugar syrup. This way I can coat all the fried pieces back to back.
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