Chikki
Encyclopedia
Chikki is a traditional ready-to-eat Indian sweet generally made from groundnuts
and jaggery
. There are several different varieties of chikki in addition to the most common groundnut chikki. Each chikki is named depending upon the ingredients used. Usually, ingredients such as puffed/roasted bengal gram, sesame, puffed rice, beaten rice, and Khobara(desiccated coconut) are used.
It is also extremely popular in Brazil
, where it is known as pé-de-moleque (boy's foot).
Though jaggery is the usual sweetener material, sugar is used as the base in certain types of chikkis. It is a very popular sweet item in both rural and urban Indian subcontinent (spanning India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka). Some people also add glucose to the chikkis, and "glucose chikkis" are very famous in the Indian subcontinent.
Most popular chikkis are sourced from India's Lonavala, Matheran
and Karjat
near Mumbai
.
. The origin of name lies in the fact that most streets in colonial Brazil
were made by laying down various odd rocks in a loose layer of sand/dirt, and having street-boys stomp on them to flatten the surface. Streets made by this method came to be called "pé-de-moleque." The appearance of the peanuts stuck together by molasses was found to be similar to that of these types of streets, and so, the sweet took the same name.
The candy is prepared by mixing roasted, peeled peanuts with melted brown sugar
or rapadura
, with or without the addition of macerated peanuts as well. The mixture is gently stirred over low heat until it gets close to crystallizing. Then the mixture is placed on a plain stone or metal surface (preferably thinly oiled with butter to ease removal) in pieces similar in size to cookie
s. This traditional preparation results in soft, irregularly-shaped sweets of a dark brown colour. Softness results from the incorporation of peanut oil.
Besides the traditional process, the sweet is also produced industrially, by mixing melted sugar with peanuts and then pouring the mix into square moulds, resulting in hard bars of a lighter colour.
Peanut
The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
and jaggery
Jaggery
Jaggery is a traditional unrefined non-centrifugal whole cane sugar consumed in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It is a concentrated product of cane juice without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color...
. There are several different varieties of chikki in addition to the most common groundnut chikki. Each chikki is named depending upon the ingredients used. Usually, ingredients such as puffed/roasted bengal gram, sesame, puffed rice, beaten rice, and Khobara(desiccated coconut) are used.
It is also extremely popular in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, where it is known as pé-de-moleque (boy's foot).
Types
Some chikkis are made using a combination of these ingredients. Special chikkis are made out of cashews, almonds, and pistachios.Though jaggery is the usual sweetener material, sugar is used as the base in certain types of chikkis. It is a very popular sweet item in both rural and urban Indian subcontinent (spanning India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka). Some people also add glucose to the chikkis, and "glucose chikkis" are very famous in the Indian subcontinent.
Preparation
The preparation of chikkis is very simple and consists of first preparing the hot jaggery syrup with a minimum of water, adding nuts to the syrup to coat them (with the syrup) and then transferring the nuts to a wooden mould, then rolling them to a thickness of about 6–8 mm using a wooden roller, cutting into slabs, and packing. In homes, smaller quantities are hand rolled with wooden rollers.Most popular chikkis are sourced from India's Lonavala, Matheran
Matheran
- Getting to Matheran :Matheran is located about 100 km from Mumbai, 120 km from Pune. and 320 km from Surat. It lies on the busy Mumbai-Pune rail link and the nearest train station is at Neral, approximately 11 km from Matheran. From Neral, one can either rent a taxi to the...
and Karjat
Karjat
Karjat is a city, a Municipal Council, a Tahsil and a sub-district in Raigad district, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra.-Geography:...
near Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
.
Pé-de-moleque
Pé-de-moleque ("urchin foot") is a traditional sweet from the Brazilian cuisine made of peanuts and jaggery or molassesMolasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
. The origin of name lies in the fact that most streets in colonial Brazil
Colonial Brazil
In the history of Brazil, Colonial Brazil, officially the Viceroyalty of Brazil comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to kingdom alongside Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.During the over 300 years...
were made by laying down various odd rocks in a loose layer of sand/dirt, and having street-boys stomp on them to flatten the surface. Streets made by this method came to be called "pé-de-moleque." The appearance of the peanuts stuck together by molasses was found to be similar to that of these types of streets, and so, the sweet took the same name.
The candy is prepared by mixing roasted, peeled peanuts with melted brown sugar
Brown sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white...
or rapadura
Rapadura
Rapadura is the Portuguese name for a form of sugarcane juice, used as a sweetener or as a candy, common in Latin American countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela and the Caribbean. See also panela...
, with or without the addition of macerated peanuts as well. The mixture is gently stirred over low heat until it gets close to crystallizing. Then the mixture is placed on a plain stone or metal surface (preferably thinly oiled with butter to ease removal) in pieces similar in size to cookie
Cookie
In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have...
s. This traditional preparation results in soft, irregularly-shaped sweets of a dark brown colour. Softness results from the incorporation of peanut oil.
Besides the traditional process, the sweet is also produced industrially, by mixing melted sugar with peanuts and then pouring the mix into square moulds, resulting in hard bars of a lighter colour.