Soan Papdi — flaky threads of pulled sugar and ghee-roasted gram flour

i. Origin & history

The name is usually traced to sohan, a Persian-derived word used in the names of several sweets (such as sohan halwa), and papdi, meaning a flake or thin wafer. Soan papdi is associated with North India and Pakistan, and particularly with the confectioners of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Its exact origin is not documented, and several regions claim it.

The technique of pulling sugar into fine threads and working it into roasted flour belongs to a family of confections across Persia, Turkey and Central Asia. The closest relative is the Persian pashmak, a fine sugar floss often called Persian fairy floss, and Turkey's pişmaniye, made from sugar pulled into strands with flour roasted in butter. Chinese 'dragon's beard' candy uses a related pulling method with malt sugar and rice flour. Soan papdi shares the same principle, adapted with gram flour, ghee and cardamom.

Traditionally soan papdi was made by hand by skilled halwais, who pulled and folded the sugar on large metal trays, often in teams. Since the late twentieth century, large sweet manufacturers have made it on a massive scale, packed in sealed boxes that keep for months. This makes it one of the most widely gifted sweets for Diwali, and it has even become the subject of a popular internet joke in India about boxes of soan papdi being passed from one household to the next as gifts.

Jokes aside, freshly made soan papdi is very good: flaky, buttery and fragrant, with a light texture unlike any other Indian sweet. It sits among the gram-flour sweets alongside Mysore pak and mohanthal, but where those are dense, soan papdi is almost weightless.

ii. How pulled sugar turns into thousands of threads

Soan papdi has two components that come together at the end: a sugar syrup cooked to the hard-ball stage, and a mixture of gram flour and plain flour roasted in ghee.

The syrup is cooked to about 125–130 °C, at which point it contains very little water and, when cooled slightly, becomes a thick, plastic mass. It is then pulled and folded repeatedly, like pulled toffee. Pulling stretches the sugar and incorporates tiny air bubbles, which turn the syrup from clear and glassy to pale, opaque and satiny, and makes it more elastic. Lemon juice or a little glucose in the syrup helps prevent crystallisation, keeping the sugar pliable.

The pulled sugar, shaped into a ring, is then combined with the warm, roasted flour. As it is repeatedly stretched and folded with the flour, the flour coats each new strand of sugar, keeping it separate from the others. Each fold doubles the number of layers, so after a dozen or more folds there are thousands of fine strands, each coated in ghee-roasted flour. This is what gives soan papdi its flaky, thread-like texture.

Temperature is critical throughout. The sugar must be warm enough to stretch but not so hot it is sticky; the flour mixture must be warm so it does not harden the sugar too quickly. Working fast and with two people, as professional halwais do, makes the process easier.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 24 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 125 g gram flour (besan)
• 125 g plain flour (maida)
• 170 g ghee
• 400 g sugar
• 160 ml water
• 1 tsp lemon juice or 1 tbsp liquid glucose
• 1 tsp ground green cardamom
• 2 tbsp pistachios, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp almonds, finely chopped

The mixture of gram flour and plain flour gives flavour and the right texture; gram flour alone is too heavy, and plain flour alone lacks the nutty taste. Use ghee, not butter, for flavour and because it does not contain water. Lemon juice or liquid glucose keeps the syrup from crystallising while you pull it. A sugar thermometer makes the syrup stage much easier to judge. Some cooks add a few drops of rose water or a pinch of saffron to the flour mixture.

iv. Method

1. Grease a 20 cm square tin and a large clean worktop or metal tray with ghee. Sprinkle half the chopped nuts over the base of the tin.
2. Melt the ghee in a heavy pan over low heat. Add both flours and roast, stirring constantly, for 12–15 minutes until golden and fragrant. Stir in the cardamom and keep the mixture warm over the lowest heat.
3. In a separate heavy pan, dissolve the sugar in the water over medium heat. Add the lemon juice or glucose and boil, without stirring, to 125–130 °C (the hard-ball stage, about 10–12 minutes): a drop in cold water forms a firm ball.
4. Pour the syrup onto the greased worktop and let it cool for 1–2 minutes, until the edges begin to set. With greased hands or a scraper, fold the edges into the centre repeatedly until it can be handled.
5. Pull and fold the sugar, stretching it and folding it back on itself, for 3–4 minutes, until it turns pale, opaque and satiny. Shape it into a thick ring.
6. Put the ring into the pan of warm flour mixture (off the heat). Using two forks or your hands, pull the ring outwards, coating it with flour, then fold it back on itself. Keep stretching and folding for 5–8 minutes, until the sugar separates into fine, flaky threads coated with flour.
7. Tip the mixture into the tin, press it down lightly with a flat-bottomed cup — do not compress it too much — and scatter with the remaining nuts, pressing them in.
8. While still warm, cut into squares. Let it cool completely for about 1 hour, then separate the pieces and store in an airtight container.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Use a sugar thermometer. Undercooked syrup is too soft to pull into threads; overcooked syrup sets brittle and will not stretch.
• Keep the flour mixture warm. Cold flour hardens the sugar before threads form.
• Work quickly. Pulled sugar firms in minutes. Prepare everything in advance, and if possible work with two people.
• Grease your hands and surface. Hot sugar sticks instantly and can burn; ghee helps protect your hands.
• Do not press too hard. Pressing the threads tightly into the tin turns them into a dense slab instead of flaky layers.
• Store airtight immediately. Soan papdi absorbs moisture from the air and turns sticky.

vi. Variations

Kesar soan papdi adds saffron. Rose soan papdi is flavoured with rose water and coloured pink. Chocolate, orange and sugar-free versions are sold commercially. Patisa is a related, denser sweet made by a similar method and cut into squares, and soan papdi with coconut adds desiccated coconut to the flour mixture.

The closest relatives elsewhere are Persian pashmak, Turkish pişmaniye and Chinese dragon's beard candy. For other gram-flour sweets, try Mysore pak and mohanthal, and for a classic Diwali gift box sweet, kaju katli.

vii. Serving & storage

Soan papdi is served at room temperature, in small cubes, at festivals, especially Diwali, and as part of a box of mixed sweets. It is best eaten with tea, and needs no accompaniment.

Because it is dry and contains no milk, it keeps well: up to three weeks in an airtight container at room temperature, away from humidity. If it absorbs moisture and becomes sticky, it can no longer be crisped. Do not refrigerate or freeze it, as moisture ruins the threads.

ix. More from Indian & South Asian

• Mysore Pak — gram-flour and ghee fudge
• Mohanthal — grainy besan fudge
• Kaju Katli — cashew fudge diamonds
• Balushahi — flaky glazed pastry
• Pashmak — Persian sugar floss
• Chikki — jaggery nut brittle