Peanut Chikki

We have eaten different types of chikkis, like with big bits of groundnut, small bits, the shiny one (made of sugar), the one with texture (made of jaggery), etc. I have made sure you know to prepare all variants by the end of this article. Personally, I like one with jaggery better and even a healthier option.

Preparation Time - 20 mins
Cooking Time - 5 mins

Ingredients

Groundnut - 1/4 kg
Sugar / Jaggery - 1 cup 
Salt - 1 pinch
Ghee - 1 tsp

Steps for preparation

1. First step is to roast whole groundnuts at low heat. Stir constantly. This will take 10 to 15 mins. Groundnut should be well roasted, but be careful not to blacken it. If you eat roasted groundnuts when hot, it will still be soft. But when it cools down, it will turn crispy. So, the criteria to decide if groundnuts are roasted is by removing the outer cover and checking if groundnut is evenly brown.
2. Now remove outer cover of all groundnuts. Now you can decide to use them for chikki in 2 ways. 
3. You can use halved groundnuts to make chikki or can pulse it in mixer for 2 times and use the coarse mixture.
4. Grease a plate with ghee and keep it aside.
5. 
   a. Using sugar - Add 1 spoon of ghee, salt and all the sugar to the pan and keep stirring continuously until all the sugar melts. As soon as the sugar melts and turns into liquid completely, add 1 cup (equal measure) groundnuts into it. Mix well and turn off the stove.
   b. Using jaggery - Add 1 spoon of ghee, salt and add jaggery in the pan. Add just 1 spoon of water in it such that jaggery will melt easily. Like above, add 1 cup or equa measure of groundnuts as soon as jaggery metls. Cook for a minute and turn off flame.
6. Pour the mixture to the plate and let it cool for sometime. Mark the pieces using a knife, no need to cut them fully, marking is sufficient.

Tips:

1. You should be careful in choosing jaggery. Sometimes, chikki becomes sticky due to bad jaggery. Choose  darker color of jaggery than the white one.
2. You can use sesame seeds, puffed rice, dry fruits, etc instead of groundnuts also.