Shankarpali, shakkarpara, murali, khurma, lakdi mithai, or just simply mithai is an Indian sweet

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are ...

. It is etymologically derived from Persian

Shekarpareh Shekarbureh (. Azeri şəkərbura) is a sweet pastry, dating back to at least the Sassanid era. Originally, it was like a halva made from sugar and almonds. Its alternate names in Persian include ''Shekarborak'', ''Shekarbora'', ''Shekarpareh'' ...

. Shankarpali is popular in

Western India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of its western part. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Uni ...

, especially in north India specially Uttar Pradesh. Its North Indian variant known as khurma or laktho is also popular in states such as

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . ...

, and eastern

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. It is also a popular sweet among the Indian diaspora in Fiji, Guyana, and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

, as well as their respective diasporas in North America, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. It is traditionally enjoyed as a treat on

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It i ...

. It is rich in

carbohydrates In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or may ...

, making it an instant source of energy. It can be sweet, sour or spicy depending upon how it is made.

Ingredients

Shankarpali is made from a dough of sugar,

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from India. It is commonly used in India for cooking, as a traditional medicine, and for religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by simmering butter, which is churned fro ...

maida Maida may refer to: People * Maida Abdallah (born 1970), Tanzanian politician * Maida Arslanagić (born 1984), Croatian handball player * Maida Bryant (1926–2016), New Zealand nurse, politician and community leader * Maida Coleman (born 1954), ...

, and

semolina Semolina is coarsely milled durum wheat mainly used in making couscous, and sweet puddings. The term semolina is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or corn) as well. Etym ...

Preparation

The mixture is made into dough and then mechanically cut into diamond-shaped units which are deep fried in

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food), spread, melted a ...

. #Boil the milk, and dissolve the sugar in the hot milk. #Then add the ghee and salt and mix well. #Remove this mixture from the fire and add maida and rawa (slightly fried) to the mix. #Knead the dough and let it rest for 2–3 hours. #Roll the dough into a chapati with a rolling pin and cut the dough into diamond-shaped shankarpali #Fry in ghee until brown. Sakkarapara - Gujarati Snack - 2

It is a popular snack amongst the

Maharashtrian Maharashtrian is an adjective referring to something related to: * Maharashtra, a state of India * Marathi people * Marathi language See also * Maharashtrian Brahmin * Maharashtri, the medieval language * Marathi (disambiguation) Marathi may ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

and

Kannadiga The Kannada people or Kannadigaru nowiki/>IAST: Kannadadavaru or Kannadigas (English term)">IAST.html" ;"title="nowiki/>IAST">nowiki/>IAST: Kannadadavaru or Kannadigas (English term)are an ethno-linguistic group who trace their ancestry to the ...

community in India and has a long shelf-life. It is widely available in shops; people usually purchase ready-made shankarpali during the year and only prepare it at home during

. This provides a livelihood for women who produce it throughout the year and market it.

Names

: ''shakkarpara'' (શક્કરપારા) *

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

: ''shankarpali'' (शंकरपाळी) *

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

: ''shankarapali/shankarapoli'' (ಶಂಕರಪಾಳಿ/ಶಂಕರಪೋಳಿ) *

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the ...

: ''shakerpara'' (সাকেরপাড়া) *

Hindi-Urdu Hindustani (; Devanagari: , * * * * ; Perso-Arabic: , , ) is the '' lingua franca'' of Northern and Central India and Pakistan. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standard registers, known as Hindi and Urdu. Thus, the la ...

: ''shakarpare/khurma'' (शुक्र पारे/شکر پارے)/(खुरमा/خرمہ) *

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

: ''khurma'' (खुर्मा) *

Fiji Hindi Fiji Hindi (Devanagari: ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Fijians. It is an Eastern Hindi language, considered to be a dialect of Awadhi that has also been subject to considerable influence by Bhojpuri, other Bihari dialects, and ...

: ''lakdi mithai'' (लकड़ी मिठाई) * Guyanese Hindustani: ''mithai'' (मिठाई/مٹھائی) * Trinidadian Hindustani: ''khurma'' (खुरमा/خرمہ)

References

{{Doughnut, state=collapsed Indian fast food Deep fried foods