Homemade 4-Ingredient Nut Chikki (Indian Brittle)

Ahh, chikki!! These are my favorite Indian sweets. The problem, sadly, is that store-bough chikki is always made with butter so my grandmother always makes me a special homemade type whenever she visits. This is our family recipe – perfectly sweet, healthier, and delicious. Chikki is like our famous brittle. You can make chikki out of anything you want – the most common combinations are peanut, almond and dry fruit, sesame seeds, and pistachio and pecans. However, my favorite is almond and pistachio, which is what this recipe is for but you can easily substitute your own choice of add-ins! Chikki is enjoyed as a snack or a dessert. It is crunchy and hard, just like brittle, and it’s sweetness comes from raw jaggery, which is pure sugar so a lot healthier for your blood sugar and belly so enjoy without any guilt ! It’s full of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat as well, which is nothing but healthy for your daily diet. Moreover, this recipe is only 2 to 3 ingredients (depending on your add-ins), which makes it so simple! Let me know how you like them! I recommend even picking up a pack of chikki from a local store if you are able to eat butter. It really is a delicious and healthy option to satisfy your sweet tooth at any time of the day.

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The Recipe

Yields 15 – 20 pieces

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup unshelled pistachios

3/4 cup raw jaggery

bowl of water

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Spread the almonds and pistachios onto a baking sheet and roast for about 7 minutes in the oven. Check periodically to see when the nuts turn a golden brown – that is when you know they are ready to be removed because you don’t want to burn them. You can even buy roasted nuts if you wish.

** If you choose to use dry fruit as an add-in, don’t roast it. 

3. Add jaggery to a non-stick pan. Make sure it’s non-stick. If you do not have access to a non-stick pan, add the jaggery to normal pan with about 2 – 3 tbsp of oil of your choice (I’d choose coconut oil, olive oil, or canola oil so you get healthy fats).

4. Keep the pan heating at about medium temperature and you will notice the jaggery starting to melt, becoming basically watery.

5. Spray a baking sheet or a large plate with some non-stick spray (I used PAM). 

6. When the jaggery has melted to a syrupy-consistency, pour the jaggery into a bowl of water. It will become hard immediately, which is what you want.

7. Throw in your roasted nuts or dry fruit into the jaggery immediately and stir for about a minute or two. 

8. Pour the entire mixture onto the baking sheet or large plate and let it cool. You can roll out the chikki to make it thinner if you wish or press down on it with another large plate/baking sheet. If you choose to do either, be sure to spray whatever you use with some non-stick spray so that the sticky mixture does not simply stick to your utensil of choice.

9. Finally, when completely cooled, break the chikki into your preferred-sized pieces and eat! We randomly break them since we usually eat two or three pieces in one sitting, but you can symmetrically cut the pieces as well if you wish. Bon appetit!