Shankarpali (sweet)

The most favorite Diwali faral sweet in my household! crunchy fried doughnuts/ cookie pieces is the best way I can describe them!

My maternal grandmom makes the best Shankarpali that I have ever eaten and below is her recipe! I failed at it slightly last year, but this year I aced it. Posting this much after Diwali, but hey, the ones I made in Diwali have long gone, and I am considering making them again! So you might want to as well 🙂

You will need:

One cup of milk

¾ cup of ghee

One cup of granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

2 cups of whole wheat flour

3 cups of all purpose flour (maida) (you can use 5 cups of APF instead or any combination, to have 5 cups of flour going in. The more APF you add, better the taste. More whole wheat flour will make it less puffy and dense)

Refined oil for frying

• You can use a smaller cup or bowl and make more or less quantity. The key is to use one measure for everything, doesn’t matter what the cup size is!

Procedure:

• Boil the milk, ghee and sugar together, bring to a rolling boil and make sure that the sugar has dissolved completely.
• Let it boil for a couple minutes – stir continuously.

• Pour in a flat container and let it cool thoroughly
• Blend the flours and salt well
• To the cooled down liquid mixture add the flour mixture and knead dough. You should get a soft dough. You should not need to add more liquid. If the dough starts feeling too hard or dry, omit some flour.
• Knead the dough very well and rest it for 20 minutes

• Heat oil for frying
• Divide the dough in manageable portions and roll out a thin layer (about 2-3 mm thick)
• Check if the oil is hot by putting a small pieces of flattened dough to it – it should sink and float right back to the top and should puff up
• Cut small diamond shapes from the rolled out sough (length about 1 inch) and fry a bunch at a time. They will not stick, so don’t worry
• Stir them while frying and keep pushing them in the oil and flip continuously
• Fry until golden brown and remove in a dish lined with paper towel

• Try one when its cooled, to check if they are crispy like they should be!
• Store in an air tight jar once completely cooled down. Stays crunchy and fresh tasting for 2-3 weeks in cold weather!

You can also make a savory version, check out the recipe for Savory shankarpali here.