Monday, September 19, 2011

Peanut brittles


3/4 cup of lightly roasted peanuts
1/4 cup of lightly roasted cashew nuts
1 cup sugar
1 tbs ghee (optional)

Greasing:
ghee/oil

Dry roast the peanuts lightly and peel off the skin, divide them into halves/chop the peanuts roughly. You can replace 1/4 cup of the peanuts with other nuts such as cashew and pistachio, if you like. Grease a plate and a kitchen roller with ghee/oil. Choose an oil that is odourless. In a steel bottomed wide pan, add sugar and let it caramelize at below medium heat. If the pan is too small, the sugar on the bottom may get a little burnt/bitter taste while the sugar on top has not yet melted, so it's better to melt the sugar in a wide pan. Do not stir the sugar at all, because it will trigger the crystalization process. The caramelization process will take some time, about 15 minutes, so please be patient. Also, don't let this process go to the extreme. If it caramelizes too much (turning really brown) it can taste bitter and outright burnt. You can add some ghee to sweeten the peanut brittles, when you see that the sugar starts to caramelize.

When all the sugar has melted/caramelized, take a small amount of the caramel and throw it in a cup with cold water. If the caramel turns out firm and not saucy/soft, the caramel is ready and you can add your peanuts. Add peanuts and mix fast. Pour the mixture on the greased plate. Roll over the mixture with the greased kitchen roller as even as you can. Wait one or two minutes and then cut. Try to take out the peanut brittles before cooling down completely. Good luck!

1 comment:

Mahi said...

Kadala mittai looks delicious! The method is simple too..shall try it soon.