Name: Gujarati Adadiya Pak
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 4⅓ tbsp Split Black Gram (Skinless), ground to a slightly coarse flour (urad dal atta); 3¼ tbsp Ghee; 3¼ tbsp Jaggery, finely chopped; 1⅛ tbsp Edible Gum, gond, crushed; ¼ tbsp Milk, warm; 1⅛ tbsp Mixed Nuts, chopped almonds and cashews; ⅛ tsp Ground Dried Ginger, saunth; ⅛ tsp Nutmeg Powder

1 hrtotal

Prep 15 min · Cook 45 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: None

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Ingredients

4⅓ tbspSplit Black Gram (Skinless)ground to a slightly coarse flour (urad dal atta)
3¼ tbspGhee
3¼ tbspJaggeryfinely chopped
1⅛ tbspEdible Gumgond, crushed
¼ tbspMilkwarm
1⅛ tbspMixed Nutschopped almonds and cashews
⅛ tspGround Dried Gingersaunth
⅛ tspNutmeg Powder

Quantities are for 2 servings.

You'll need: Stovetop.

Method

The dhrabo step: put the coarse urad dal flour in a large bowl. Moisten it with the warm milk and a measured splash of melted ghee. Rub the mixture briskly between your palms for a full 5 minutes. Cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes, which gives it its grainy texture.
5 min10 min
Mechanically force the rested, clumped flour through a coarse culinary sieve. This action pulverizes large aggregations, yielding a uniform meal.
Elevate the remaining ghee in a heavy kadhai over medium heat. Introduce the crushed edible gum (gond) and deep-fry it to an explosive, porous puff. Extract with a spider skimmer and reserve.
In the same hot fat, add the sifted urad dal flour. Stir it without stopping over a low to medium flame for 15-20 minutes. The flour should darken right through to a deep amber and smell strongly toasted and nutty.
15–20 min
Once the starch is immaculately roasted, extinguish the heat completely. However, you must persist with the spatula motion for 2 minutes to diffuse the pan's retained thermal load.
2 min
Stir the finely chopped jaggery into the very hot flour straight away. The heat is just right to melt the jaggery without it seizing. Beat the mixture hard until it is smooth.
Fold in the puffed gond, the toasted nut fragments, dry ginger powder (saunth), and nutmeg. Ensure every crystal of spice is evenly distributed.
Evacuate the scalding mass into a pre-greased, flat setting tray. Compact and level the surface flawlessly. Allow a multi-hour crystallization period before sectioning the slab into pristine diamonds or squares.

How to tell it's done

Dense, slightly grainy, rich in ghee, and studded with a satisfying crunch of nuts and puffed gum.

Getting it right

Tip

The 'Dhrabo' step (rubbing milk and ghee into the flour) is vital to ensure the final Adadiya Pak isn't a sticky paste but has a signature crumbly, fudgy mouthfeel.

What to serve it with

Consuming a piece of Adadiya Pak in the morning during cold winters is a traditional Gujarati practice for building warmth and stamina.

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