The delicious makkan peda is synonymous with the historical town of Arcot. About 190 – 200 years ago, Govindsamy Chettiyar tasted a mithai in the palace of the Nawab of Arcot that was truly amazing and worthy of further improvisation.
He came up with the world – famous makkan peda that resembles a gulab jamun but with all the wholesome goodness of eleven ingredients that include cashew nuts, almonds, pistachios, figs, walnuts, raisins, chironji seeds, melon seeds, ghee, cardamom powder and khoa.
This magnificent sweet is prepared entirely by hand using the age – old recipe and on wood fire and requires more than 3 hours of time (two hours for preparation and one hour to deep – fry).
First, a soft dough is prepared from one and half kg of plain (unsweetened) khoa, one and half kg of maida and 300 gms of ghee. The dough is allowed to rest. Small balls of the dough are made, slightly flattened and filled with the chopped nuts and made into a smooth ball.
The balls are deep – fried in batches in large kadais on wood fire. The excess oil is drained and the evenly fried balls are immersed immediately in large vessels of freshly prepared sugar syrup. They are allowed to soak for at least 10 – 11 hours to attain that lustrous dark golden brown colour.
This delectable sweet is an interesting mix of richness and natural sweetness lent by the dried fruits and nuts and truly deserves all the recognition it has received these past two centuries!
Govindsamy Chettiyar founded the world – famous Arcot Chettiyar Mittai Kada that is now run by his family.
Written by Lakshmi Subramanian
sahasa.in 
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