Easiest Method Of Making Goda Shankarpaali; Shakkarpaare; Diwali Sweets; Step Wise

Hi All!

Navaratri are over and in a few days we would celebrate Deepawali, the festival of lights. It is now that time of the year when we clean up the house, buy new clothes and jewellery for the family and prep up for the festival.

Any celebration or festival is incomplete without sweets, savouries and good food. And Deepawali is the biggest festival for Hindus, so obviously, it is that time of the year when I gear up to make a lot of sweets and savouries for the family.

There are a few things which I definitely make every year, the first being the Namakpaare, the goda or sweet shankarpaali as called in Maharashtra or shakkarpare as called in Hindi and the Maharashtrian Chivda. The sweet shankarpaali are of two kinds, one which the dough is sweet and the other are the sugar coated ones. In this post I’m sharing the uncoated version, i.e, which the dough itself is sweet. And I would share the Maharashtrian Chivda in a few days too.

This method of making shankarpaali is the easiest. It is a fuss free recipe which has extremely easy proportion of ingredients to remember.

Shankarpaali Or Shakkarpare

गोड शंकरपाळी / शक्करपार॓

Preparation Time: 30mins | Cooking Time:45mins | Makes: About 250gms | Difficulty Level: Moderate

Ingredients

1/2 katori/ bowl clarified butter or ghee
1/2 katori/bowl sugar
1/2 katori/bowl water
about 250gms maida/ all purpose flour or as required
a pinch of salt
3-4 cups of oil for deep frying

Method:

Take equal portion of ghee, sugar ( I took a little less as I prefer less sweet) and water.

Heat the ghee in a pan to melt it. In another pan dissolve the sugar in water by heating it gently. Mix the sweet water in the melted ghee.
Let the mixture come to room temperature completely and then add a pinch of salt to it.

Gradually add the maida to this mixture and as much maida which will get mixed to form a soft dough, which is pliable.

Break the dough into 4-5 equal sized balls and roll out a circle of 1/4inch or about 3mm thickness.

Cut out the uneven edges and then using a knife, or a pizza cutter or a shankarpaali cutter, cut 1” wide strips.

Cut the strips horizontally to get diamond or square shaped shankarpaali. Separate them so that they do not stick each other.
Mean while, heat about 4cups of oil on a low flame. Increase the flame to medium and put a batch of cut shankarpaali in oil. The temperature of the oil should be such that the shankarpaali should gradually come up to the surface.

Reduce the flame to low heat and fry the shankarpaali till golden in colour.
Using a slotted spoon, remove all the excess oil and put the fried shankarpaali on a kitchen towel. Repeat the process with the entire dough.
Cool them thoroughly and store them in an air tight container.

Notes:

Once the dough is kneaded, make the shankarpaali immediately else the ghee in the dough would solidify and the dough will harden.
Maintaining the appropriate temperature of the oil is important else the shankarpaali will not turn flaky or khasta.
Cover the cut shankarpaali and the dough with a damp cloth to prevent drying.
One can also use milk to knead the dough but the shankarpaali made that way get spoilt faster.