Sukhdi

Gujarat's three-ingredient sweet: wholemeal wheat flour roasted in ghee until nutty, bound with melted jaggery, and set in a tray to be cut into diamonds

Origin: Gujarat, India

From the journey of Sugar Cane.

Sukhdi is made from three things: wholemeal wheat flour, ghee, and jaggery. The flour is roasted slowly in the ghee until it turns golden and smells of toasted nuts, the pan comes off the heat, and grated jaggery is stirred in until it melts into the warm flour and binds it. The mixture is pressed into a greased tray and cut into diamonds while still warm, and it sets soft and crumbly, melting on the tongue. In Maharashtra the same sweet is gul papdi or gol papdi, named for the jaggery. The name is usually connected with sukh, happiness, and it is a sweet for good occasions: Diwali, family celebrations, and the cold months, when Gujarati households make it in quantity. It shows the Gujarati kitchen's fondness for jaggery at its plainest. With nothing to hide behind, the jaggery is the flavour, and a good dark gol gives the sweet a deep, caramel, faintly smoky taste that refined sugar cannot.

Ingredients

  • 150 g ghee, plus a little for the tray
  • 200 g wholemeal wheat flour (atta)
  • 150 g dark jaggery (gol), finely grated
  • 0.25 tsp ground cardamom (optional)
  • 1 tbsp slivered almonds or poppy seeds, to decorate (optional)

Method

  1. Grease a 20 cm square tray or thali with ghee.
  2. Melt the ghee in a heavy pan over a low heat, add the flour, and roast, stirring constantly, for 10 to 12 minutes, until it is evenly golden brown and smells nutty.
  3. Take the pan off the heat and let it stand for 1 minute, then add the jaggery and cardamom and stir quickly until the jaggery has melted into the flour.
  4. Tip the mixture into the tray at once, spread, and press it level with the back of a bowl. Scatter over the almonds or poppy seeds and press them in.
  5. While it is still warm, cut it into diamonds or squares. Leave to cool completely before lifting out.

Notes

Sukhdi keeps for two weeks in an airtight tin. Some cooks add a little dried ginger powder or desiccated coconut to the jaggery; others keep strictly to the three ingredients.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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