Dry Fruit Caramel Candy... Dry fruit Brittle

I love chikki, the ones made with jaggery and I love brittle too, the ones made with sugar. They both are almost the same when making but taste entirely different. This mixed dry fruits brittle is made up of caramalized sugar mixed with nuts.When you bite into the brittle it tends to crackle a wonderful flavour in your mouth. I know sugar is not healthy and the better option is the chikki made with jaggery. But its ok to sometimes eenjoy wat you like. This is one of my favourites and I love it any time

I tried making this once couple of years back and it turned out bitter so never bothered to try again. I did not know the reason for the bitterness and so took out the thought of trying again. A few months back was reading someones post on making til chikki. The blog had lots of tips and tricks. Tried it and yes got it right... from then on this recipe has been my go to recipe

Have it any time and enjoy the taste. I make in small batches and store them in airtight containers to enjoy whenever we feel like

  

Serves... makes 12 small pieces

Serve option... Room Temp

This is what u'll need...

Chopped Cashews - 2 tbspn
Sliced Almonds - 2 tbspn
Sunflower seeds - 2 tbspn
Poppy seeds - 1 tspn
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Ghee - for greasing

Here is the stir....

• The ratio of sugar to nuts is 1:1. You can add less sugar if your prefer less sweet. I used almost half a cup of chopped nuts and 1/2 cup of sugar. You can double or triple the amount for a bigger batch

• Chop cashews and almonds. Keep everything ready before you start making the brittle

• Heat a pan and dry roast poppy seeds for a few seconds. Make sure to keep the flame low and keep stirring to ensure even cooking. Remove and keep it aside

• To the same pan add chopped cashews, almonds and sunflower seeds. Dry roast them on low flame making sure to continuously stir it. Remove this and keep it aside too

• Wipe the pan clean with a kitchen towel and measure 1/4 cup of sugar into it

• Keep the flame low and swirl the pan around a little. In a few seconds the sugar will start crystallising

• Use a wooden spatula and keep stirring while keeping the flame low all the time else the sugar might burn and tend to turn bitter

• In a few seconds the sugar will start to caramalize and turn into a beautiful golden colour. Drop a few drops of this syrup into a bowl of cold water. If it cracks after you take it out then you are good to go. Thats it, its ready. Immediately remove it from heat

• Add the dry roasted nuts except poppy seeds to the caramalized sugar. Place the pan back on the stove and give it a good mix. Turn off the flame. Stir well until the nuts are coated well with the syrup. For me the syrup was a little more than the nuts as the kids ate up some fried ones while I was busy making the syrup.... naughty kids u see :)

• Pour this on a greased plate and spread it thinly. You can keep it thick too... its all upto your preference

• Sprinkle the poppy seeds on top

• While the mixture is still hot run a knife through it and cut it into squares

• Let it cool down completely. Break it into pieces and store them in an airtight container

Note:

• Keep the flame very low all through the process of making chikki
• Once the sugar is caramalised immediately start checking for cracking consistency. Immediately add the nuts and stir. Dont cook the caramalised sugar for long else it turns bitter
• You can add poppy seeds while adding the nuts. I like it on top so always add it in the end