Peanut Chikki is the Indian version of Peanut Brittle. It’s made with peanuts, jaggery and nothing else really. It’s a staple in Indian homes during winters and one of my personal favorite.

Ever since I can remember, I have been obsessed with chikki. I would wait for winters every year so that I could get to eat this peanut chikki. In Delhi and around, chikki is commonly referred to this brittle made with peanuts and jaggery. Although you can get tons of different flavors and combinations as far as chikki is concerned, I simply adore the basic peanut chikki. And you would get the best chikki from these roadside vendors, I had few favorites and I always bought chikki from them.

This also reminds me of an incident many years back. My mom knew how much I loved peanut chikki so whenever she would go to market during winters, she would get some for everyone but she would get like 2 extra blocks for me. I would hide them in my room so that my brothers don’t see it. Moms are truly the best, aren’t they? They just know what you want even when you don’t say it. Last year when I was in India during winters and she was so sick, even then she asked people to get some chikki for me. She wouldn’t forget this even in the ICU. I really miss her so much, its hard to even put it in words.

Anyway before I become too emotional, I would like to talk about how to make perfect peanut chikki at home. It’s basically very easy with just 2 main ingredients – peanuts and jaggery. But you could still get it all wrong if you don’t cook the jaggery to the right stage. See, the jaggery needs to be cooked till hard ball stage so that the resulting chikki is crisp and nice (like a good chikki should be) and not chewy and soft. If you don’t cook the syrup to the correct stage, chikki will remain soft. If you cook it too much, it might become way too crisp like a lollipop.

Hard ball is a stage in candy making. When sugar melts, the water boils away and sugar concentration increases and temperature increases. Different candies require different temperatures depending on their texture. For the chikki, we are looking at the hard ball stage which is at 250-265 F. For this peanut chikki, I went till 265 F degrees and then added the roasted peanut into the jaggery syrup.

So how do you ensure that you have reached the hard ball stage? The best way is to use a candy thermometer. Seriously if you like making candies of any kind at home, buy a digital thermometer. It makes things so much easier. But what do you do in case you don’t have a thermometer? Drop a drop of jaggery syrup in a bowl of cold water, it would settle at the bottom and form a solid ball out of it. It will harden to a brittle consistency, it would snap. That’s the right temperature to add peanuts. If you follow these steps, the chikki will come out just perfect everytime.

If you want your chikki to be super duper crispy, cook the jaggery syrup till hard crack stage, which will be at 300 F degrees. At 265 F, the chikki has a nice snap without being too crispy, which I personally like. Hope you guys enjoy this homemade peanut chikki.

 

Method

Roast peanuts for 5-6 minutes on medium-low flame till crunchy and there’s no raw smell. Stir continuously so that the peanuts get roasted uniformly.

Once roasted, transfer the peanuts to a bowl and let them cool down a bit. Once easy to handle, remove the skin by simply crushing the peanuts between your palms. Skin would come off easily.

Remove all the skin and keep the peanuts ready to go.

Place jaggery powder, ghee and water in a pan. Switch on the heat on low-medium.

The jaggery will melt and then start bubbling away.  After few minutes, it would reach hard ball stage, which you can check in 2 ways-

a) by using candy thermometer. Hard ball stage is 250-265 F degrees. I let the syrup reach 265 F before adding the peanuts.

b) if you don’t have a thermometer – drop some syrup in a bowl of cold water. It will sink to the bottom and solidify. This is the right stage.

Once the jaggery syrup reaches the hard ball stage, add the roasted peanuts to the pan and mix well till peanuts are well coated with the syrup.

Transfer mixture to a parchment paper. You may also a plate/baking pan which has been greased well. I just prefer rolling this between two sheets of parchment paper, makes it so easy. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top and roll the mixture to 1/4 inch thickness.

Mark lines with a knife so that it is easier to cut into pieces once its set. Let the chikki cool completely.

Once completely cool, break peanut chikki into pieces and enjoy. The chikki will get crispier as it cools down. Store in an airtight container.