Mysore Pak — gram flour, sugar and ghee, cooked into a golden, porous fudge

i. Origin & history

The usual story of Mysore pak is one of the more specific in Indian sweet-making. It is credited to Kakasura Madappa, a cook in the kitchens of the Mysore Palace during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore in the early twentieth century. As the story goes, Madappa improvised a new sweet from gram flour, ghee and sugar; when the Maharaja asked its name, he called it Mysore pāka — pāka being the Kannada word for a sweet made with sugar syrup. Madappa's descendants still run a sweet shop in Mysuru that claims the original recipe. The tale is widely repeated in the Indian press; like most palace origin stories, it relies on family and local tradition.

What is certain is that Mysore pak spread across South India and became one of the region's signature sweets, essential at weddings, Deepavali and Dasara — the great festival of Mysore. It is offered to guests, packed into festival gift boxes and sold in every sweet shop from Bengaluru to Chennai. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have occasionally sparred, mostly good-humouredly, over who makes it best.

There are now distinct versions, which is why searches for 'Mysore pak versions' are so common. The classic Mysore pak is firm, crumbly and full of tiny holes, made with less ghee. The soft or ghee Mysore pak (nei Mysore pak in Tamil) uses considerably more ghee and is cooked for less time, so it stays dense, moist and almost fudgy; it was popularised by sweet shops in Coimbatore and is now hugely popular. Between them sit countless shop styles.

Mysore pak is made of gram flour, which is ground from split chickpeas (chana dal), giving the sweet its nutty, slightly savoury depth. This links it to other gram-flour sweets of India, such as Gujarat's mohanthal and the flaky soan papdi.

ii. Why hot ghee makes it porous

The holes in a classic Mysore pak are created in the pan. Gram flour is first whisked into a hot sugar syrup, which starts to cook it into a thick paste. Then hot ghee — much hotter than the paste — is added a ladle at a time. Each addition sizzles: the heat flashes water in the paste into steam, and the ghee fries the gram flour from the inside, creating countless tiny bubbles. As the cooking continues, the mixture froths, lightens and pulls away from the pan, and the bubbles set as it cools, creating the honeycomb texture.

That is why the ghee must be properly hot, not just melted. Cool ghee is simply absorbed, and the result is dense and greasy rather than porous. It is also why the mixture must be stirred constantly but not beaten — the bubbles are fragile.

The sugar syrup matters too. It is cooked to the one-string stage, around 105–107 °C, so that it has enough sugar concentration to set the mixture firmly once it cools. A thinner syrup produces a soft, sticky pak; a syrup cooked further produces a hard, brittle one.

Timing is the final variable. The moment to pour is when the mixture froths up, becomes lighter in colour, leaves the sides of the pan and releases ghee around the edges. Pour it too early and it will not set; too late and the sugar overcooks, making the pak hard and dark, and it can even crumble apart. For the soft version, the mixture is poured a little earlier, with more ghee, so it stays dense and fudgy.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 24 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 150 g gram flour (besan), sifted
• 300 g sugar
• 120 ml water
• 300 g ghee
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom (optional)

Use fine besan, sifted to remove lumps; coarse gram flour gives a gritty pak. Some cooks dry-roast it for a minute first for a nuttier flavour. The ratio of 1 part gram flour to 2 parts sugar to 2 parts ghee by weight gives a classic, porous, firm Mysore pak; for the soft ghee version, increase the ghee to about 2½ parts and take it off the heat a little earlier. Ghee is essential — it gives the flavour and the texture, and cannot be replaced with butter, which contains water and milk solids that burn. Some recipes replace a quarter of the ghee with a neutral oil to make it lighter. Cardamom is optional; the classic is unflavoured.

iv. Method

1. Grease a 20 cm square tin or tray with ghee. Sift the gram flour. Have a whisk, a sturdy spatula and a ladle ready.
2. Melt the ghee in a small pan and keep it hot over low heat throughout — it should be hot enough to sizzle when a drop of water hits it.
3. In a heavy-based wide pan, dissolve the sugar in the water over medium heat. Boil until it reaches one-string consistency (about 105–107 °C), 5–7 minutes: a drop pulled between finger and thumb forms a single thread.
4. Lower the heat to medium-low. Add the gram flour a spoonful at a time, whisking constantly, until it is smooth and lump-free, about 1–2 minutes.
5. Add a ladle of hot ghee; it will sizzle and be absorbed. Stir, and when it has been absorbed, add another. Keep adding ghee and stirring for 8–10 minutes.
6. Watch for the signs: the mixture froths, becomes lighter and airy, turns golden, leaves the sides of the pan and starts releasing ghee at the edges. Stir in the cardamom, if using.
7. Immediately pour into the greased tin. Do not spread or press it; let it settle naturally so the bubbles stay intact.
8. Leave for 5–10 minutes, then, while still warm, cut into squares or rectangles with a sharp knife. Cool completely, at least 1 hour, before separating the pieces.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Keep the ghee really hot. Hot ghee creates the porous texture; warm ghee just soaks in and makes a dense, greasy pak.
• Get the syrup right. One-string consistency is the target. Under-cooked syrup gives a soft pak that will not set; over-cooked syrup makes it hard and brittle.
• Stir constantly, from the bottom. Gram flour and sugar burn quickly, and burnt besan tastes bitter.
• Pour at the right moment. When it froths and leaves the sides of the pan, pour immediately; a minute too long can make it hard.
• Cut while warm. If you wait until it is completely cold, it will crumble when cut.
• Use a heavy pan. A thin pan creates hot spots that brown the mixture unevenly.

vi. Variations

There are several established versions of Mysore pak. Classic Mysore pak is firm, porous and slightly crumbly, golden brown, with a nutty, caramelised flavour. Soft ghee Mysore pak (nei Mysore pak) is dense, moist and melts in the mouth, made with more ghee and cooked for a shorter time. Hard Mysore pak is a crunchier, darker, more caramelised style sold in some old Karnataka shops. Modern sweet shops also sell milk Mysore pak with milk powder, chocolate, cashew and dry-fruit versions, and sugar-free versions made with sweeteners.

Related gram-flour sweets include mohanthal, a Gujarati besan fudge enriched with khoya, and soan papdi, a flaky, threaded besan sweet. For a South Indian sweet of a lighter kind, try rava kesari; for a festive cashew sweet, kaju katli.

vii. Serving & storage

Mysore pak is served at room temperature in small pieces, as part of a festive sweet platter, at weddings or with filter coffee. It is very rich, so a single piece goes a long way.

Classic Mysore pak keeps for up to two weeks in an airtight container at room temperature, and longer in a cool place; the soft ghee version keeps for about a week. There is no need to refrigerate it, which would harden the ghee. It freezes for up to two months.

ix. More from Indian & South Asian

• Mohanthal — Gujarati gram-flour fudge
• Soan Papdi — flaky besan sweet
• Kaju Katli — cashew fudge diamonds
• Badam Barfi — almond fudge
• Rava Kesari — saffron semolina sweet
• Honeycomb Candy — another sweet full of bubbles