About Peanut Chikki

Chikki is a traditional Indian sweet candy like brittle made with jaggery, nuts and seeds. Various roasted crunchy ingredients like peanuts, almonds, cashews, sesame seeds, puffed rice, roasted chana dal and dried coconut are used to make a chikki. There are many varieties of chikki made and every variety is named after the ingredient used. Peanut chikki is made by stirring crunchy roasted & skinned peanuts in a hot viscous jaggery solution. The hot mixture is allowed to set hard as slabs which are further sliced to squares. Also known as gud dani, gud patti, kadalai mittai and palli patti, peanut chikki is everyone’s favorite and is enjoyed in all parts of India. It is also made during festivals like Sankranti and Dusshera in South India. This energy boosting treat is equally healthy and nutritious since it uses jaggery, an Indian unrefined sweetener made from Sugarcane juice. While it is convenient to buy peanut chikki from the Indian stores, the homemade version is healthier. The store bough versions most times have the liquid glucose or corn syrup or even refined sugar added to them for the crunch.

My Recipe

This easy recipe will teach you how to master making chikki at home. Peanut chikki has always been a favorite with my kids and for years they enjoyed the homemade versions made by my Mom & MIL during our visits to India. However many of my trails in Singapore ended up in failure. Later I figured out that using the right kind of jaggery is very important to make a proper chikki. There are numerous kinds of jaggery available in the market these days. Not all kinds of jaggery work well to make a crunchy chikki. Premium quality jaggery like organic ball jaggery or unrefined jaggery are not suitable to make chikki as it turns stringy even after reaching the hard ball consistency. A lot of times even organic jaggery powder do not work well. Most often export quality jaggery has lesser additives & is lesser processed to conform & pass the quality tests. So If you are living abroad & trying to make with locally bought jaggery then you may or may not succeed in making good chikki. The results may vary with every batch of jaggery you buy. I had lot of readers asking me about why the chikki turns stringy even after reaching the hard ball consistency so I am sharing the details here. To make perfect chikki, choose normal jaggery. Avoid the premium quality ones labelled like – organic, unrefined, pure jaggery, no added chemicals, evaporated sugarcane juice powder etc. If you are unable to find the normal one, then just replace 6 tbsps of jaggery with 4 tbsps refined sugar in the recipe. More Sweets RecipesJalebi recipeKalakand recipe7 cup burfiMysore pak

Preparation for chikki recipe

  1. Dry roast 1 cup peanuts on a medium to low heat stirring often.
  2. When they are half done, the skin begins to come off. Continue to roast until the peanut turns slightly golden. Remove the skin and check. Not only the peanut skin even the nut has to turn slightly golden to bring out the aroma of peanuts.
  3. Cool them completely. Begin to remove the skin by crushing the nuts gently with the base of a cup. You can also transfer the nuts to a cloth and cover. Then crush the nuts gently just to loosen the skin.
  4. Separate the skin from the peanuts.
  5. This is an optional step but we do it just to bring out the nutty aroma of peanuts. Gently crush the peanuts with the base of a cup for 1 to 2 mins. You can also pulse 2 tbsps of peanuts in a grinder and use. Set the peanuts aside.
  6. Grease a plate, knife and rolling pin. You can also grease the base of a steel cup and use. Pour 1 cup water to a bowl and keep it handy for checking the jaggery syrup consistency.

Making jaggery syrup for chikki

  1. Add 140 to 150 grams grated jaggery (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) to a heavy bottom pot or pan.
  2. Pour 1 tbsp water.
  3. Begin to dissolve on a low to medium heat.
  4. When it is completely dissolved, add 1 tsp ghee. If you find any impurities in jaggery, you can filter it at this stage.
  5. Begin to boil on a medium to low heat, stirring constantly until the syrup bubbles well and thickens slightly.
  6. Keep checking the syrup consistency. To check, drop a few drops of jaggery syrup to the water.
  7. The first stage will be soft ball consistency. This is not the consistency we need for chikki recipe. Add back the jaggery ball to the pan. So continue to cook beyond this stage.
  8. After a while, repeat checking by dropping the jaggery syrup again.

Consistency of jaggery syrup for chikki

  1. In between the soft ball stage and the hard ball stage you will come across this stage. It is not soft nor like a brittle.
  2. When you try to break it turns stringy and then breaks. This is not the consistency we are looking for.
  3. Lower the flame completely and be alert as it is coming to an end stage. Continue to stir and cook for a little while. Not too long, check again by dropping the syrup. When it reaches the right consistency, jaggery syrup will harden immediately when dropped to cold water and forms a brittle.
  4. Remove it and break. It must be like a brittle or candy and should not be stringy. If you are unable to get this brittle then try cooking further for few seconds. If you fail to get this brittle, just use up the syrup for something else. This will not give you good chikki.

How to make peanut chikki

  1. Turn off and remove from fire. Mix in the peanuts.
  2. Be quick and stir in the peanuts well with jaggery syrup.
  3. Immediately transfer to the plate. Quickly I shaped it to a rectangle with spatula. Roll with the rolling pin to level the top. You can roll it as thin as possible. You can also use a greased cup to level the top.
  4. Make marks when it is hot. Cut them while still warm. Cool completely and store peanut chikki in air tight jar.

Faqs

Related Recipes

Recipe Card