Winter Special: Peanut Chikki Recipe

Crunchy and healthy, Peanut Chikki also known as Peanut Brittle is a scrumptious sweet treat that is easy to prepare at home. The key ingredient of this dish is peanut which is served widely during the winter season.

Peanut Chikki can be served at any time of the day and is loved by kids as well. 

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 20 small pieces

Ingredients:

• 1 cup, peanuts
• 3/4 cup, jaggery powder 
• 1 tsp, ghee

Method:

• Take a plate and grease it with a good amount of ghee and leave it aside.
• Now start preparing chikki by roasting peanuts. Take a pan and put peanuts in it. Roast the peanuts on a medium flame for 5 to 7 minutes until they showcase brown spots, turn crispy and shred their skin. Keep stirring the peanuts while roasting. Once done, turn off the flame.
• Keep the roasted peanuts aside to cool down to room temperature. If the skin of peanuts is not shredded yet, rub them between your palms to remove them. It’s better to remove the skin when the peanuts are still warm.
• Once the peanuts are prepared, heat a pan and put jaggery and 2 tsp of water into it. Cook them on a low flame until the jaggery dissolves in water and starts bubbling. Keep stirring the syrup. Also, put a bowl with some water as well to check the consistency of the syrup. Once in a while drop a few drops of jaggery syrup in water. If this drop of jaggery turns hard, brittle as well as breaks with a snap sound, then jaggery syrup is prepared. Turn off the flame once the syrup is prepared.
• Put roasted peanuts in the jaggery syrup and mix well. Transfer this batter to a greased plate and pat it with a flat spatula. The alternative is to cover it with parchment paper or you can roll it with a rolling pin. Rolling helps the peanut chikki to get an even surface.
• Once done, leave the peanut brittle for a while to cool down completely and then cut them into desired sizes using a sharp knife. You can also pat the bottom of this plate over the floor to separate the peanut chikki.
• Finally tasty Peanut Brittle/Chikki is ready to serve.

Important points to note:

• Do not leave the pan unattended when roasting the peanuts and making jaggery syrup.
• You can also use the microwave to roast the peanuts.
• If the jaggery is hard, you can shred it using a knife or grate it to powder.
• You can use cardamom powder or dry ginger powder for flavours. If using, add it to the jaggery syrup.
• Do not add too much water to jaggery while making syrup.
• Consistency of jaggery is very important. If you add peanuts to soft consistent jaggery syrup, then you will not get the glazed look on the chikki. Hardball consistency jaggery syrup is perfect to obtain the glazing textured peanut brittle.
• As a variation, you can crumble roasted peanuts in a blender for a second before combining them with jaggery syrup.

It’s a perfect sweet dish to have after a meal in the winter season.