Khurma

5 from 5 votes

Khurma is a sweet snack which is made during the festivals of Diwali & Holi. These pieces of fried flour are coated with sugar making them highly addictive!

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Khurma- a traditional Indian sweet snack which was always made in my home during Holi & Diwali!

It’s highly addictive and needs only a handful of ingredients to make it at home.

pair of hands holding a bowl full of khurma

For this Diwali, I decided to share some classic recipes from my nani.

The sweets which I was very fond of as a child, the sweets which were always prepared in my house for festivals.

As much as I love the rasmalai or jalebi, no one ever made these at home. What was made for festivals was besan ladoo, peda, gujiya and this khurma!

What is Khurma?

Khurma is a piece of fried flour which has been coated with sugar. It’s highly addictive! In a way it’s exactly similar to Namakpara minus the salt and spices.

In fact, it’s almost same as the popular shakarpara. The only difference is that in my home, we call it khurma and it’s made slightly different.

For shakarpara, you sweeten the flour while kneading it while for khurma we fry the flour first and then add it to a thick sugar syrup. The sugar crystallizes and coats all the pieces of khurma making it sweet.

This is one sweet which was always made in home for various occasions. In fact, sometimes it was made without an occasion too if we just wanted to munch on some khurma.

khurma in a glass container with diyas in the background

How to Make Khurma

Like most fried Indian snacks, the process is quite simple. You make the dough with some oil added to it and then deep fry it.

As always remember to deep fry on medium heat else the khurma will not turn out very soft.

Once the dough pieces/squares are deep fried, you add them to a thick sugar syrup.

To make a thick sugar syrup, we use a large amount of sugar and mix it with little water. The amount of sugar may seem a lot but it’s needed to coat the khurma.

I first tried this recipe with half the amount of sugar and it didn’t work out. Most of the khurma pieces were left uncoated.

The sugar syrup for khurma doesn’t need to be boiled for too long- only few minutes and it’s done.

Once you add the fried khurma to the sugar syrup, you toss is al together and then switch off the flame in couple of minutes.

The sugar will dry up and crystallize in few minutes and coat all the khurma pieces. Keep stirring the pan full of khurma every couple of minutes or so.

This will make sure all the khurma pieces get coated with sugar.

a tumbling glass container full of khurma with more khurma in the background

Once it has all cooled down, store khurma in an airtight container and enjoy. It should last for weeks though we always finish it way before that.

If you want to make a different sweet this year for Diwali, give this Khurma a try. It might sound like shakarpara but it’s so different.

The outer coating of sugar gives it a unique texture. You can always flavor the sugar syrup with cardamom or rose water.

I used very little rose water in my sugar syrup. You may add more or less to taste.

I have alreadt made a batch of khurma and have been munching on it with my chai every evening. You can also put them in treat bags and give them as gifts.

After all everyone loves homemade edible gifts, right?

Method

1- Take flour in a large bowl.

2- And then and add oil to it.

3- Rub the oil into the flour using your fingers.

4- Press some flour between your palm- it should form a shape (& not crumble) – means oil is enough and well incorporated.

step by step pictures of making khurma at home

5- Start adding water little by little, until the dough just comes together. Don’t make a soft dough, we are looking for a little stiff dough here. Cover the dough and let rest for 15 minutes.

6- After 15 minutes, divide the dough into 3 parts. Smooth and roll one part like a thick roti, around 1/4 inch thickness. And then cut it into whatever shape you desire. At my home, we always made khura in a square shape (sort of!) so I did the same.

Repeat with the remaining dough balls until all dough is finished.

7- Khurma should be little thick as you can see in this picture. Don’t roll the dough too thin. It should be thick.

8- Heat oil in a pan on medium heat and add khurma to it. Make sure oil is not hot. To test you can add a little piece of dough to the oil, it should come up gradually.

If it comes up immediately, it means your oil is too hot and you need to lower down the heat.

step by step pictures of making khurma at home

9- Fry the khurma on medium-low heat until it turns light golden in color. It will take around 7-8 minutes for it to get done, have patience. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel.

10- Meanwhile, in another wok, add sugar, water and rose water (if using) and put the pan on high heat. Stir until the sugar melts, in around 2 minutes.

After the sugar melts, lower the heat to medium and let the sugar simmer for 2-3 more minutes.

11- Then add the fried khurma and stir.

12- With the heat on medium, stir for 2 more minutes as the syrup thickens , then switch off the heat

step by step pictures of making khurma at home

13 & 14- The syrup will continue to thicken. Keep stirring. Remember the heat is off at this point.

15- The sugar crystallizes in around 7-8 minutes and starts coating the khurma. Stir every 2 minutes or so.

16- All the khurma pieces are well coated with the sugar after around 10 minutes of switching off the heat.

step by step pictures of making khurma at home

Store khurma in an airtight container once it has cooled down. It will last for few weeks!

khurma in a glass container wit a sweet box and diyas in the background

If you’ve tried this Khurma Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!

Khurma

5 from 5 votes
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
Servings: 5 cups
Khurma is a sweet snack which is made during the festivals of Diwali & Holi. These pieces of fried flour are coated with sugar making them highly addictive!

Ingredients 

  • 2 cups all purpose flour 260 grams
  • 4-5 tablespoons oil 60-75 ml, I used avocado oil
  • water to knead the dough, little more than 1/4 cup (60 ml)
  • oil for frying, I used canola oil

Sugar Syrup

  • 2 cups granulated white sugar 400 grams
  • 1 teaspoon rose water optional
  • 1/3-1/2 cup water
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Instructions 

  • Take flour in a large bowl and then and add oil to it.
  • Rub the oil into the flour using your fingers.
  • Press some flour between your palm- it should form a shape (& not crumble) - means oil is enough and well incorporated.
  • Start adding water little by little, until the dough just comes together. Don't make a soft dough, we are looking for a little stiff dough here. Cover the dough and let rest for 15 minutes.
  • After 15 minutes, divide the dough into 3 parts. Smooth and roll one part like a thick roti, around 1/4 inch thickness. And then cut it into whatever shape you desire. At my home, we always made khura in a square shape (sort of!) so I did the same.
    Repeat with the remaining dough balls until all dough is finished.
  • Khurma should be little thick as you can see in this picture above. Don't roll the dough too thin. It should be thick.
  • Heat oil in a pan on medium heat and add khurma to it. Make sure oil is not hot. To test you can add a little piece of dough to the oil, it should come up gradually.
    If it comes up immediately, it means your oil is too hot and you need to lower down the heat.
  • Fry the khurma on medium-low heat until it turns light golden in color. It will take around 7-8 minutes for it to get done, have patience. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel.
  • Meanwhile, in another wok, add sugar, water and rose water (if using) and put the pan on high heat. Stir until the sugar melts, in around 2 minutes.
    After the sugar melts, lower the heat to medium and let the sugar simmer for 2-3 more minutes. So in total we boil the sugar syrup only for around 5 minutes.
  • Then add the fried khurma and stir. With the heat on medium, stir for 2 more minutes as the syrup thickens , then switch off the heat
  • The syrup will continue to thicken. Keep stirring. Remember the heat is off at this point.
  • The sugar crystallizes in around 7-8 minutes and starts coating the khurma. Stir every 2 minutes or so.
  • All the khurma pieces are well coated with the sugar after around 10-15 minutes of switching off the heat. Remember to stir every 2 minutes so that all pieces get coated with the sugar.
  • Store khurma in an airtight container once it has cooled down. It will last for few weeks!

Notes

The calories calculated are for cup!

Nutrition

Calories: 590kcal, Carbohydrates: 118g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 11g, Sodium: 2mg, Potassium: 53mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 79g, Calcium: 8mg, Iron: 2.4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Sweet
Cuisine: Indian
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Hi, I’m Manali!

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Recipe Rating




5 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Hi Manali!
    Looks wonderful! I’m going to make it today for our good friends Yukti & Awadhesh! I’m new to Indian cooking but giving it a try! Can I use Ghee instead of the avocado oil in the dough?
    Thank you!🪷
    Marianne

  2. 5 stars
    Dear Manali,

    Thanks for sharing this recipe. Shakarpara’s were always made in our home in India during weddings. So I never learnt to make them just learn to love eating them !! In fact I picked up a bag from the Indian grocery store this weekend … so glad to see your version.