Recipe from Cheetie Kumar
Adapted by Brigid Washington
- Total Time
- 15 minutes, plus 45 minutes’ cooling
- Rating
- 4(31)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This recipe for gajak — an Indian treat that’s like a cross between peanut brittle and sesame candy, but with more nuanced flavor — comes from the North Carolina chef Cheetie Kumar, who always had it at Diwali and loves the way the flavors magically coalesce after the mixture sets for 45 minutes. Peanuts and sesame are found together in sweet recipes all through Northern India, and even appear as co-stars in savory dishes in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra in chutneys and stuffed in eggplant. Jaggery adds some savory undertones that you can't get from regular sugar. You can find it online, at Indian grocery stores or some larger Asian supermarkets (look for blocks or balls, rather than granulated jaggery). It’s crucial to have your ingredients ready before starting; the gajak comes together fairly quickly but the sugar can burn if you don't watch it carefully. Cutting the brittle when it’s warm will yield pretty, uniform pieces, but it can also be broken once it has hardened into uneven, rustic chunks. —Brigid Washington
Featured in: Exuberant Diwali Sweets From a Rock-Star Chef
or to save this recipe.
Print Options
Include recipe photo
Advertisem*nt
Ingredients
Yield:About 24 pieces
- 1teaspoon ghee, plus more for greasing the pan and rolling pin
- 9ounces/255 grams jaggery, grated on the largest holes of a box grater (see note)
- 1⅓cups/200 grams toasted, skinless unsalted peanuts, chopped coarsely
- ½cup/75 grams toasted white sesame seeds
- ⅓cup/50 grams untoasted white sesame seeds, ground into a powder using a spice grinder, small food processor or mortar and pestle
- Pinch of kosher salt
- Pinch of green cardamom powder (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Grease the back of a sheet pan and a rolling pin with ghee and set aside.
Step
2
Heat a wide, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-low heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the ghee, jaggery and 1 tablespoon water and stir well to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the caramel starts to brown and reaches 300 degrees on an instant-read or candy thermometer, about 8 to 10 minutes; you're looking for the “hard crack” stage or the point where a drop of the caramel in cold water hardens into a crunchy toffee. Don’t rush this by turning the heat up too high: The caramel will burn in an instant.
Step
3
As soon as you reach 300 degrees, remove pan from the heat and quickly fold in the peanuts (and any fine powder from chopping), both types of sesame seeds, the salt and cardamom, if using, and stir until well combined. Immediately turn the mass out onto the back of the sheet pan and roll to an even ¼-inch thickness, keeping the sides as straight as possible.
Step
4
Let set until cool enough to handle but still pliable, about 3 to 4 minutes, and slide onto a cutting board. Cut into 2-by-2-inch pieces. (Alternatively, when fully cool, the brittle can be broken into uneven, rustic chunks.) Let set completely until hard before serving. The flavors start to come together after it's been setting for 30 minutes, but it’s best after 45 minutes, or even 1 hour.
Tip
- Jaggery adds savory undertones that you can’t get from other sugars. Find it online, at Indian grocery stores or some larger Asian supermarkets (look for blocks or balls, rather than granulated jaggery).
Ratings
31
user ratings
Your rating
or to rate this recipe.
Have you cooked this?
or to mark this recipe as cooked.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Aisha
Looking forward to making this. Just a note -- not all jaggery is equal. The lighter colored jaggery is better for brittle, and less likely to be flavored.
S D
. When you buy Jaggery make sure, it is white in color (it's called Kolhapuri jaggery) . The ratio is 1 to 1. so in a pan take broken jaggery add 1 tsp of ghee or butter and add 2 tsp of water. melt the jaggery at high heat , and as soon as it melts lower down the heat to medium low and cook the jaggery till it changes the color of dark caramelized sugar. add your sesame seeds or roasted peanuts, stir it. pour the mixture on buttered silpat and roll it with buttered rolling pin.
Jai
Gajak does not necessarily contain peanuts!
berts
Oh! the earthy flavor of jaggery is exceptional in all indian cooking!
Suzaan
I don't know if it looks easy, but it isn't easy. The ratio of liquified jaggery and nuts/sesame must be just right to bind the ingredients, and difficult to get it all stuck together and rolled out thin enough. But very tasty! I substituted butter for ghee, but I can tell that brown sugar would not work as a substitute for the jaggery, which has more moisture.
S D
. When you buy Jaggery make sure, it is white in color (it's called Kolhapuri jaggery) . The ratio is 1 to 1. so in a pan take broken jaggery add 1 tsp of ghee or butter and add 2 tsp of water. melt the jaggery at high heat , and as soon as it melts lower down the heat to medium low and cook the jaggery till it changes the color of dark caramelized sugar. add your sesame seeds or roasted peanuts, stir it. pour the mixture on buttered silpat and roll it with buttered rolling pin.
R S
This is a fantastic recipe! Made it as written, using the darker, North Indian jaggery. Yummy!
christina
Made this for Lohri. Was just like the fancy, expensive gajak of my husband’s childhood in Punjab. I used dark jaggery and it turned out perfectly. Don’t skip toasting the sesame seeds and make sure to mix in the nuts/seeds very quickly once the jaggery is at temperature.
Aisha
Looking forward to making this. Just a note -- not all jaggery is equal. The lighter colored jaggery is better for brittle, and less likely to be flavored.
Private notes are only visible to you.
