Varo | Indian Praline With Nuts For ICC

This months in Indian Cooking Challenge we made this Sindi delicacy – Varo.It can be called the cousin of our South Indian Chikki.

We got two methods to try from.One from Simply Sindi Recipes and the other from Madhavi’s Foolproof recipes.Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe ladies.Also thanks to Alka and Srivalli for choosing this recipe.

I combined both the recipes and made this.The challenge was very interesting but was a little skeptical if I would get it right.And yes,I did!!!

Here is the step by step procedure …

I used:

Sugar- 1/2 a cup
Chopped nuts-1/2 a cup [walnuts,pista and almonds]
Butter- 1 tablespoon
Poppy seeds-1 teaspoon
Cardamom-2 pods,crushed
Roasted coconut flakes-a few,crushed roughly

1.The first thing to do is keep all the ingredients ready before you light the stove.Also grease a plate and sprinkle 1/2 the poppy seeds on the plate and keep near the stove top.

2.Melt butter and add the sugar.

3.The sugar will melt.Keep stirring till it changes color to brow.Keep a close watch and cook in low flame.It will take around 5 minutes.

4.Immediately add the nuts,cardamom powder,roasted coconut and switch off the flame.Mix well so that the caramelized sugar coats the nuts.

5.Pour into the greased plate,flatten it with a spatula and sprinkle the remaining poppy seeds over it

6.When cool break into pieces.

Easy and tasty Varo is ready within minutes!!!!

Lil Angel who loves sweet stuffs enjoyed it.Hubby who has a soft corner for spicy stuffs asked to me make this yet again coz it vanished within an hour and the two were already addicted to it!!

My notes:

The next time I make this I will be adding 1 cup sugar to 1/2 a cup nuts.The mixture was too dense to spread and I think if the sugar is increased it will be spreadable.

If you are not able to mix the nuts into the caramelized sugar because it has gone cold,heat on low flame and mix quickly.[That’s what I did as the mixture got cold while I was clicking the pic.So I gently heated the mixture and the sugar got ‘loosened’ a bit so that I could mix it well].

Bon Appetit…