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How Mysore pak is made
One copper kadai, three ingredients and fifteen minutes that cannot be rushed.
Mysore pak has only three ingredients: gram flour, sugar and ghee. The skill is in the timing, which is why our head halwai, Murugesan, still makes every batch himself.
He starts with a sugar syrup boiled to a one-string consistency in a heavy copper kadai. The gram flour, roasted lightly in ghee beforehand, goes in slowly while he stirs. Then the hot ghee is added a ladle at a time, every minute or so, for about fifteen minutes. Each ladle hisses and foams, and the mixture grows lighter as air is trapped inside.
The moment matters. Take it off the fire a minute early and the pak is soft and greasy. Leave it a minute too long and it turns hard and dark. Murugesan watches for the edges to pull away and the colour to reach a pale gold, then pours it into a greased tray all at once.
It is cut while still warm and left to set for two hours. A good Mysore pak should break with a light snap and then melt on the tongue, with tiny holes running through it like a honeycomb. We make it fresh at six every morning, and on festival weeks, three times a day.
