Shankarpali Recipe

A brass bowl filled with golden, bite-sized Shankarpali, with a few rose petals scattered on top, placed on a rustic tray with a cloth in the background.

5 from 2 votes

Shankarpali is a Maharashtrian snack that is basically deep-fried, mildly sweet flour biscuits. Use my no-fail recipe to make this crispy snack for tea time or festivals like Holi and Diwali.

Prep Time5

Cook Time1

Resting Time15

Total Time1 20

Course: Snacks

Cuisine: Indian, Maharashtrian

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: people

Author: Neha Mathur

Ingredients

240 grams all-purpose flour (maida)
20 grams fine semolina (barik sooji)
50 grams ghee
100 grams sugar powder Do not use confectioner's sugar, also called powdered sugar. Grind regular sugar in a grinder to make a powder and use it.
¼ cup milk (approximately) at room temperature
oil or ghee for frying

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make The Dough

Add all-purpose flour and semolina to a large bowl or parat (a large shallow Indian plate). Mix well using your fingers until combined.
Heat the ghee in a small pan over high heat until very hot, almost smoking.
Pour the hot, melted ghee over the flour mixture. Using a spoon first, and then your fingertips, rub the hot ghee into the flour using a crumbling motion. After mixing, take a fistful of the mixture and press it in your palm. It should hold its shape and not crumble. If it does not hold, the moyan is insufficient; add another teaspoon of melted ghee. This process of adding ghee to the flour is called Moyan. It makes the shankarpali crispy and flaky.
Add sugar powder and mix well.
Add milk, little by little, to the flour mixture and knead into a firm, tight dough, similar to poori dough. The dough should not be soft or sticky. If it feels too soft, it will absorb oil during frying and turn greasy and dense.
Cover the dough with a dishcloth and keep it aside for 15 minutes. This resting time allows the gluten to relax and the fat to distribute evenly, making the dough easier to roll. It is an important step; do not skip it.

Shape The Dough

Knead the dough for 20-30 seconds, then divide it into 3 parts.
Roll one part into a 3-5 mm thick circle. Do not roll too thin. Thinner shankarpali burns quickly on the outside while remaining raw inside. Do not roll too thick; they will be dense. Lightly dust the rolling surface with dry flour if the dough is sticking. Keep the other parts covered with a damp cloth.

If the dough feels too tight or cracks at the edges when you roll it, add milk, half a teaspoon at a time. Resist adding water: milk improves both texture and color.

Using a sharp knife, pizza cutter, or a karanji cutter, cut the rolled dough into diamond shapes (make diagonal cuts in two directions) or squares, each roughly 1 inch in size. Remove the uneven ends.

You can cut the dough into any desired shape. Using cookie cutters in various shapes makes it fun for kids.

Fry The Shankarpali

Heat oil or ghee for frying in a pan over medium heat. I prefer using ghee.
Once the ghee is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low.

To check if the ghee is perfectly heated, drop a small ball of dough into the hot ghee. If it rises in 5-8 seconds, then ghee is at the right temperature. If it rises soon, then let the ghee cool down a bit and if it is taking time to rise, then heat it some more.

Add the squares to hot ghee and fry on medium-low heat until golden brown. Use a slotted spatula to stir frequently while frying to ensure even browning. Each batch will take 12-15 minutes to fry.

Keep in mind that shankarpali will continue to brown from residual heat, so do not over-fry them.

Drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Shankarpali will not be crispy at this stage. They will crisp up once cooled.
Repeat the process with the remaining dough. Make sure to check the ghee’s temperature before adding the next batch.

I like to roll-cut-fry in a continuous workflow. It saves time.

Cool the shankarpalli completely and store in an air-tight container.

Video

Notes

This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled. If scaling the recipe, make sure to fry them in batches. If you overload the pan while frying, the shankarpali might not turn out perfectly.

You can also add a little cardamom powder and sesame seeds to the dough when making sweet shankarpali.

You can replace ghee with oil for moyan, but the taste and texture of shankarpali will change.

Nutrition