Makar Sankranti Special: Make Mouth Watering Peanut Chikki At Home!

Chikki is an Indian sweet traditionally made with jaggery and nuts like roasted peanuts, cashews, almonds and even coconut. Some even prefer to use roasted chana dal (thin black gram), puffed rice, roasted amaranth seeds, sesame seeds, or a mixture of various nuts and dried fruits.

This mouth-watering candy is called Chikki in Marathi and Gajak or Jaggery Patti in Hindi. Chikki is very popular among children and is usually made and eaten during the winter season and festival of Makar Sankranti in India.

Talking about jaggery, it is Indian refined sugarcane sugar which is made by boiling fresh sugarcane juice in a big iron pan.Chikkis are available in supermarkets – however, homemade chikkis are better as they do not contain preservatives – liquid glucose sugar, corn syrup and other preservatives added to them to give them a longer shelf life.

Ingredients

Peanuts – 1 cup (roasted and peeled)

Jaggery – 1 cup (200 grams) (crumbled)

Roasted peanuts

• If you have whole peanuts then peel them.
• If the peanuts are ready, heat a thick-bottomed kadhai or pan and add 1 cup of peanuts.
• Roast the peanuts on low to medium flame and stir until they become crunchy.
• Taste the peanuts once to see if they are crunchy or not. If the peanuts are still raw then roast them for a longer time.
• Once the peanuts are roasted, put them in a separate plate or tray and keep them to cool.
• After the peanuts have cooled, rub them between your palms and peel off their shells.
• Put the peanuts in a sieve with large holes and strain to remove the skin.

Make jaggery syrup

• Add one cup of jaggery powder or chopped jaggery to the kadai or pan. Filter the jaggery if there is any dirt in it.
• If you do not have jaggery powder, you can use a jaggery block instead. Cut it finely.
• Add one cup of water to it.
• Heat in a wok or pan on low flame. Then, use a spatula or spoon to stir the jaggery syrup until the jaggery dissolves.
• Keep stirring it continuously. The jaggery syrup will start thickening. Now keep stirring the syrup on low flame.

• Pour cold water into a bowl. Then add a few drops of jaggery syrup in water so that the consistency of the jaggery syrup can be known while cooking.
• The syrup will thicken and start boiling. Cook the mixture until it thickens. The colour of the syrup will change and become darker. In such a situation, take care that the syrup does not burn.
• When the jaggery syrup reaches the right consistency, quickly add the peanuts without any delay.
• Mix jaggery syrup and peanuts until well combined.
• Switch off the flame and quickly pour the chikki mixture onto a greased plate or marble board.
• Place the chikki mixture on foil or butter paper. Use a rolling pin to flatten the chikki mixture into an even layer.
• After rolling the chikki mixture, remove the paper.
• After removing the paper, carefully cut the chikki into square pieces of equal size.
• While rolling and cutting, keep in mind that the chikki is hot. If the chikki is cold then it will be difficult to cut and roll it.
• Keep the cut chikkis at room temperature to cool.
• When the peanut chikkis cool down, break them and serve. If you want to serve chikki later, store it in an airtight jar. Happy Sankranti!

Love sweets made with jaggery? You can also try this delicious jaggery Rice Kheer at home!