This recipe is in honor for my grandmother on her birthday. She used to always make this when she visited.
Whenever I eat something Indian and delicious(the majority of food in our house), I can never quite figure out how to describe it. Take gulab jamun, for example. To someone who's never eaten it before, I could maybe describe it as a fluffy fried cake pop soaked in syrup. Kinda like a 'pancake pop'! But you have to eat it to experience it. So an accurate description is simply impossible! Which is DEFINITELY the case with this recipe, gur papdi.
Gur papdi is a Gujarati snack/dessert made in the winters to stay warm. It consists of three ingredients: gur(jaggery), ghee(clarified butter), and atta(wholewheat flour). Basically you heat these three up, mix them together, and press into a shallow plate or pan. Then you cut them into squares and will probably finish them within the next day or so.
My dadi, aka my grandmother, would always make this whenever she visited. She has super strong fingers, so she could always crush up the jaggery by hand and I remember being amazed by that. We all always loved it and proceeded to devour it all usually in a day! That's how good it was. It's her birthday today, so I wanted to honor her with this recipe; I love her(and the food she makes) soooooo much. This is a version of her stovetop gur papdi recipe that is adapted so you can make it in the microwave. One of the most delicious recipes, and so easy and quick too!
Now I'm faced with the dilemma of describing it again. Argh! Why do the best-tasting foods always have to be so hard to describe to others?! The most I can manage to tell you would be a soft, buttery cookie. With notes of caramel.
But seriously, make it. You won't be disappointed.
Happy birthday Dadi! Love you ;)
Gur Papdi "Cookies"
Ingredients:
1/2 cup ghee
1 cup wholewheat flour
3/4 cup gur(jaggery)
Directions:
Put the ghee in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Then stir in the wholewheat flour and microwave again for 2 minutes. Open the microwave, give it a quick stir, and then put it back in for 2 minutes more. Then add the jaggery, stirring quickly before it cools down. This is crucial, as if you don't stir in the jaggery quick enough you will be left with a result that is not evenly sweet. (If it does cool down, pop it back in the microwave for 30 seconds with the jaggery, then proceed). Lastly, flatten this mixture into a shallow dish of your choice, slice into pieces, wait for it to cool, then enjoy!
The photo above is the mixture before pressing it into a dish. Yours will probably look less shiny, as I put too much ghee in this one. But don't fret if you accidentally do so as well; it will taste just as delicious!
