Mysore pak

{{Infobox prepared food

| name = Mysore pak

| image = Mysore_pak.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption =

| type = Dessert

| region = Mysore, Karnataka

| country = {{flag|India}}

| year =

| served =

| main_ingredient = Sugar, Gram flour, Ghee & or cooking oil

| variations =

| calories =

}}

File:South Indian sweets or dessert called Mysore pak made from gram flour, powdered sugar and clarified butter.jpg

Mysorepak ({{langx|kn|ಮೈಸೂರು ಪಾಕ್}} | literally, Mysore's confectionery) is a type of mithai (sweetmeat) from India. It is prepared with only three ingredients: ghee, sugar and besan. It originated in the royal kitchen of Kingdom of Mysore.{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/Food/In-search-of-Mysore-Pak/article15616920.ece|title=In search of Mysore Pak|first=Neha|last=Mujumdar|newspaper=The Hindu |date=24 November 2012|via=thehindu.com}}{{cite web|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/151015/nation-current-affairs/article/four-generations-mysore-pak-still-crowd-puller-here|title=Four generations - mysore pak still crowd puller here|date=15 October 2015 |via=deccanchronicle.com}} Now Mysore is one of the major cities in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is prepared from generous amount of ghee along with sugar and gram flour more often flovoured with cardamom. The texture of this sweet is similar to both a fudge and a buttery dense cookie.[https://www.ndtv.com/south/how-the-famous-mysore-pak-was-invented-674512?amp=1&akamai-rum=off How the Famous Mysore Pak Was Invented]. ndtv.com.

It is also popular in the neighbouring countries Pakistan and Bangladesh (it is known as Monsur in Bangladesh).

History

It is prepared as part of wedding meal, also popular during festivals and major events of celebration in southern India.

The Maharaja of Mysore, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV who was a great connoisseur maintained his royal kitchen at the Amba Vilas Palace in Mysore with lots of care and perfection.{{Cite web |title=Mysore Pak |url=https://ramanagara.nic.in/en/culinary-delight/mysore-pak/}}

Kakasura Madappa, one of the chefs known for preparing sweets (sweet master) began experimenting, wanted to present the Maharaja of Mysore with something unique. Adding gram flour, ghee and sugar, he prepared a mithai. It was not only soft but also it had a mild crunchy texture with golden colour. This sweetmeat was similar to a fudge but with little crunch, a very unusual but an extraordinary culinary skill. Madappa was called in and asked for its name. He said the first thing that came to his mind - 'Mysore-Paak'. The Maharaja loved the sweet so much that he asked Madappa to open a sweet shop outside the premises of the palace.{{Cite web |date=2019-09-26 |title=Guru Sweets In Mysore And The History of Mysore Pak |url=https://www.karnataka.com/recipe-and-food/guru-sweets-mysore-the-history-of-mysore-pak/ |access-date=2022-06-25 |website=Karnataka.com |language=en-US}}

Paaka just means cooking and is associated with culinary arts mastered by only a few cooks, some of whom keep their methods secret. Example Nala-paka which means Nala's culinary art. Paka Shala is kitchen, Paka Shastra is 'the science and art of cooking'.

In the word Mysorepak, 'Pak = confection'. It has no connection with the country Pakistan, Mysorepak was invented way before Pakistan was formed. It is derived from Sakkare Paaka, KadleHittu and Tuppa (sugar syrup blended with gram flour and clarified butter in right consistency). The sugar is called sakkare 'paaka' when it achieves a perfect precision during the prepration of Mysorepak (thread stage to the softball stage). A skilled professional will know the right consistency. This sugar syrup which is 'sakre-paaka' is used as the primary sweetening agent in various sweets of Karnataka like Jhilebi, Badusha, Badampuri, Jahangir and many more but 'paaka' changes for each dish. Only for Gulab Jamun the cloudy watery sugar syrup is not 'paaka' but called 'Kshira' which means milk (indicating the syrup's viscosity should be of milk).

The recipe improved through the years. However, the original sweet made with the original recipe is still available at the famous "Guru Sweets" stores in Devaraja Market, run by Kumar and Shivanand, great-grandsons of Madappa.{{Cite web|url=https://bxmysuru.com/guru-sweets-mart-mysuru/|title=Guru Sweets Mart - Mysuru|first=BXMYSURU|last=TEAM|date=10 August 2022}}

Ingredients

Mysore Pak is made from sugar, gram flour, ghee and or cooking oil. It is very common dessert throughout India especially in the southern states of the country. Other ingredients that may or may not be used are baking soda and cardamom.{{Cite web|url=https://hebbarskitchen.com/mysore-pak-recipe-easy-homemade/|title=mysore pak recipe | easy homemade mysore pak recipe|first=Hebbars|last=Kitchen|date=12 February 2019|website=Hebbar's Kitchen}}

Attributes

Below are some of the attributes of the sweet{{Cite web|url=https://www.traditionalfoodofindia.com/mysore-pak/|title=Mysore pak – Traditional Foods of India}}

Shape: Mysore pak is cut into cubes or cuboids.

Texture:

Regular Mysorepak - Hard and porous when made with combination of ghee and oil. Moisture from the sugar syrup escapes as steam through the greased gram flour rendering Mysorepak porous. Excess ghee, if any, may fill in such pores rendering it dense.

Special Mysorepak - Soft and dense when made with only ghee.

Colour: Yellow on top to dark brown in the middle and a light brown in the bottom (due to continued cooking in the tray). A skilled chef can make three shades in a piece of Mysorepak.

Shelf life: Very little water is used in the preparation, so it can stay fresh in a cool and dry place, but it should be consumed within one month only.