sweet shankarpali recipe with step by step photos – shankarpali is a sweet snack which is usually made during festive occasions like diwali in maharashtra. these slightly flaky, melt in the mouth crisp fried flour cookies are a good tea time snack and popular in western india.
a similar snack along the lines of shankarpali is shakkar pare which are made in north india. there are some differences in the preparation of both these snacks.
along with shankarpali there are few more indian snacks which are often made during diwali festival like:
this is a sweet shankarpali recipe and another popular variation is a spiced savory shankarpali.
in this post, i have fried as well as baked the shankarpali. the fried one had a darker shade than the baked ones. taste wise both are good. the fried ones had puffed up more than the baked ones and had a more crumbly texture. the baked shankarpali tasted more like baked cookies.
you can use the frying method or the healthy baking method. below is the pic of baked shankarpali and the first & last pic is of the shankarpali made using frying method.
you can make shankarpali in bulk and store them in air tight container and enjoy them for the next few weeks as a snack or with tea. sharing my mom’s recipe of shankarpali. one snack she would often make on both diwali and christmas.
shankarpali recipe below:
shankarpali recipe
ingredients (1 cup = 250 ml)
- 1.5 cups maida (all purpose flour)
- ½ cup rava (sooji or semolina)
- ½ cup regular sugar or organic unrefined cane sugar or as required
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 to 3.5 tablespoon milk or as required
- 2 tablespoon ghee or oil for making fried shankarpali and 3 tablespoon ghee or oil for making baked shankarpali
how to make recipe?
kneading dough for shankarpali:
- powder the sugar in a dry grinder and keep aside.
- first sieve the flour with salt.
- then sieve the powdered sugar.
- melt the ghee or warm the oil
- add the melted ghee or warm oil to the flour-semolina-sugar mixture.
- mix the fat into the flour mixture and make a breadcrumb like consistency.
- when gathered together, the whole mixture should be able to hold itself together.
- warm the milk.
- then add each tbsp of the warm milk in intervals and knead to a firm tight dough.
- if the dough looks dry, then add 1/2 or 1 tsp milk and knead.
- keep aside covered for 20-30 mins.
for frying shankarpali:
- heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan.
- divide the dough into two equal parts.
- roll one part into a disc 6-7 inches in diameter.
- cut diamond slices from the rolled dough.
- gently drop 6-8 of these slices into the kadai or pan.
- you can fry more if you have a bigger kadai or pan.
fry shankarpali till golden.
drain fried shankarpali on kitchen paper napkins.
- fry the rest of the shankarpali in batches.
- also roll the other piece of the dough in a similar way and make diamond shaped slices.
- fry these slices too in batches.
- when cooled, store the shankarpali in an air-tight jar.
for baking shankarpali:
- preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
- place the diamond slices on to a baking tray or pan.
bake shankarpali for 20-25 mins or till light golden.
remove and cool the baked shankarpali on a wire rack.
- once cooled, store the baked shankarpali in an air-tight jar.
recipe notes
tips to make shankarpali recipe:
- you can add more sugar if required.
- 2 tbsp of oil or ghee is enough for the quantity of flour and sooji/rava mentioned in this recipe if you plan to deep fry the shankarpali. if you add 3 tbsp of oil or ghee than there are chances of the shankarpali breaking in the oil while frying. however 3 tbsp of ghee or oil works well and gives the shankarpali a good texture if you bake them.
how to make sweet shankarpali recipe:
1. first powder ½ cup sugar in a dry grinder.
2. sieve 1.5 cup all purpose flour/maida, a pinch of salt and powdered sugar. mix in the ½ cup rava/sooji/semolina. add 2 tbsp melted ghee or warm oil.
note – use 2 tbsp ghee or oil for making fried shankarpali and 3 tbsp ghee or oil for making baked shankarpali
3. with your fingertips rub the ghee or oil in the flour mixture and make a breadcrumb like consistency. the whole mixture when gathered should hold itself up like the pic below.
4. add warm milk in intervals while kneading. add milk as required. depending on the quality of maida and sooji, more milk can be added.
5. knead to a tight dough. keep aside covered for 20-30 mins at room temperature.
6. divide the dough into two parts and roll each part into a circle of about 6-7 inches in diameter.
7. with a knife or pizza cutter, make diamond shapes from the dough. discard the edges and join them together with the other piece of dough.
8. drop the diamond shaped shankarpali gently in medium hot oil.
9. gently fry the shankarpali till golden.
10. remove from slotted spoon and drain shankarpali on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil.
11. for baking, place the shankarpali in a baking tray keeping space in between. bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees C for 20-25 mins. below is a pic of the baked shankarpali. once baked remove and cool them on a wire rack.
12. when cooled, store the shankarpali in an air-tight container or jar.
mam I want methi shankarpali
i will try to add the recipe. have taken a note of your recipe request.
Hi Dassana, followed the recipe to the ‘T’ and the result is delicious. It turned out nice and crispy. Will add rawa now onwards. Thank you so much and Happy Deepavali
Welcome Supriya. Glad to know this. Thanks for sharing this positive feedback on shankarpali recipe. Happy Deepavali
Hello ! I want to use this exact recipe to make shankarpali. I however want to replace maida with whole wheat atta. and want to bake them instead of frying.
How much of rava/semolina to use ?
Do I replace 1.5 cups maida with the same quantity of atta or reduce the measure
Thank You !
Eshani
you can easily replace maida with atta. use 1.5 cups of atta. you can also add rava if you want or can skip it. rava will make the shankarpali crispy. with atta more milk will be required, so add accordingly.
Hi dassana,
Can I replace the sugar here with jaggery and all purpose flour with whole wheat??can you please tell me the measurement?? After Replacement should I have to follow the same procedure??
Thanks
you can. use the same measurement as that for all purpose flour and jaggery. if there are impurities in jaggery, then you need to make a syrup and then filter it. to make the syrup, dissolve 1/4 cup hot water. mix well and then strain it. you can also use warm water and allow the jaggery to soak in it for some time. then strain. when adding the syrup to the flour, it should be at room temperature and not hot. if there are no impurities in jaggery, then too i would suggest to make a syrup as sometimes there are fine tiny lumps of jaggery which won’t break while kneading the dough.
Came out to be delicious recipe in the first attempt 😘😘
Thanks Kriti for your positive feedback.
looking so yummy and delicious…
thanks khanita.
Hi Dassana,
A very Happy Diwali and a prosperous New year to u n ur dear ones.
Thanks sooo much for sharing all ur awesome n perfect receipes. Am so glad that i came across ur website. Very happy to share with u that this is d first tym i had d courage to make diwali sweets all by myself (of course, ur receipe ref?) i made each dish twice….first batch was just an experiment with ur reciepe in small quantity and second batch was d final one. I must say that ur reciepes r very easy to follow and d outcome is just yummmmm…
Thanks again dear….God bless….keep up d good work?
prabha, wish you and your dear ones also a happy diwali and a prosperous new year. felt nice reading your comment and also that for the first times you tried shankarpali and it was a success. i am so glad that the recipe worked for you. most welcome prabha and wish you all the best.
Thanks a lot for sharing the recipe I usually refer all your recipes.i tried this today and they came perfectly crispy.!!
thanks for this feedback on the shankarpali recipe. glad to know.
Hi….I tried ur shankarpali recipe…..it came out very well…I had not used rava in shankarpali earlier so was a bit sceptical at first…..then thought let’s try it….the result was good……thank you….
thanks selvi for this feedback on the shankarpali recipe. glad that the recipe turned out good for you.
Hi dasana
I always refer your site before making anything and it is very good to v that whatever I make it turn out well.
Thanks for sharing these recipes and making our job easy.
Rinki singh
thanks a lot rinki for this feedback. happy cooking.
Hi Darshana,
I m huge fan of ur recipes.
I use all measurement as u say.
But while preparing this Shankarpalli I had faced problem.
As I put in hot oil,it lost shape n within seconds was all sooji in oil.
Don’t know what went wrong.
Please help.
Thanks in advance.
Your true fan
Ruchi
thanks ruchi. looks like the dough required to be kneaded more. this could be the reason of the shankarpali crumbling in oil. always knead very well. this is true for most recipes which are fried.
Tried dis n came out amazing
thanks for the feedback pooni.
I have a much crispier version for awesome shankarpalis….these literally melt in ur mouth…
thankyou vidhyut 🙂
Do i have to grind the semolina ?
no. semolina is not ground. the ones are used are fine ones, so they need not be ground. but if you use a larger or coarse ones, then you can grind them.
Thanks for sharing this recipe 🙂 Tried this and it turned out great 🙂 🙂
thanks for the positive feedback 🙂
Can I use honey instead of sugar?
no. avoid using honey in food where its cooked or baked or hot. honey when heated becomes toxic as per ayurveda. skip sugar and make a savory version. add some ajwain/carom seeds, crushed black pepper and cumin seeds. also add some salt.
Hi daasana..
Once again a superb recipie… juss loved it.. it came out so well.. Thanku soo much.. I just had less rava (1/4 cup).. and was worried.. but came superb..
Thanks a lottt…
I m juss becoming ur fan.. no single day goes when i dont refer ur site before cooking food..
Amazing……..
welcome hetal. thanks for sharing your positive feedback and kind words. happy cooking.
Hi Dassana,
I am a fan of your cooking. Prepared the punjabi chole recently for a family picnic and everyone liked it 🙂
I am planning to own an OTG. Confused whether to go for a microwave with convection or an OTG.
Could you kindly let me know if we could roast papads in an OTG? Also can we go for baking the recipes which call for deep frying?
Which brand OTG would be good to choose?
Thank you so much in advance for your inputs..
Best Regards,
Anitha
thanks a lot anitha. papads can be roasted in microwave. not in OTG. if you plan to bake often, then OTG is a good buy. but if you plan to reheat or cook in the microwave oven, then you can consider buying it. but for baking OTG is good as it gives better results. yes you can bake recipes like samosa, pakoras etc in the OTG. texture is different but they are healthy. i have a philips model. i have not purchase any other brand. so cannot say. you can check online reviews and buy. i have heard from my friends that morphy richards is good.
Thank you so much for the quick reply dassana!
welcome anitha
hi dasanna, getting back to you after a long time. Just give me your opinion as to making the sankarpali fried is better than baking or doesn’t it make much of a difference. Getting guests and I want to make this and also your makhana kheer. Awaiting your suggestion. Thanks. God bless you to go further up in the field of your interest and it is a tremendous service to the society . DK
Welcome Durgak ji. the texture is more crisp and flaky in the fried version. but health wise baked version is better with little compromise on texture. on a second note, baking saves effort than frying shankarpali because one is not occupied with frying. thanks for your prayers and kind words.
Tried the recipe word by word.It came out really well.
Thank you very much for sharing.
welcome khyati
Hi,
I love your blog and and tried many recipes successfully. I want to go for this recipe also but i am hesitating using white/all purpose flour, please suggest how much whole wheat flour should be replaced for it.
thanks simran for sharing positive review on recipes. use the same amount of whole wheat flour.
Awesome recipe and Great Website!!! Thanks for sharing such wonderful recipes….
I have tried this one and a few others ….everytime the dishes turned out to be a success:):)
Thanks once again:):)
welcome chhavi. thanks for sharing positive feedback on recipes.
Very soft n tasty, littlle less crrispy as. I feel. Other than that very good thanks
Thanks.
These are flaky ones. They are not cispy ones. The amount of fat added makes the difference.
Hi Dassana,
very nice presentation. tried today but when I put the diamonds into oil, it started to separate into grains. what to do? help
add some flour and knead again. the dough has become soft, thats why.
Hi, I have a doubt. Do you roast rava or can we use unroasted rava for the dough?
its unroasted rava. the rava is not roasted.
Hi Dassana,
Greetings of the day 🙂
Hope you are doing good. Love to visit to your site. Awesome recipes and the moreover the detailed explanation. Keep up the hard work 🙂
I want to know if I can use castor sugar instead of powder sugar.
Regards,
Sue.
i am fine sue. thanks 🙂 yes you can use castor sugar.
I liked shankarpali recipe. It’s very easy simple n good to taste.
Thanks to teach us step by step recipe. Now its easy to make any recipe teach by u.thanks a lot
welcome anju.
hi dassana,
for the first time in my life i had tried to make this at home, and it turned out really well and nice crispy.
thanks for your recipes specially step by step recipes they give a lot of confidence in cooking, specially for me who is really bad in cooking.
welcome shireen. glad to know that step by step recipe helped you.
hi dassana,
would you please post the recipe on how to make millet bakhri/ jhari ki roti?
it will be soo kind of you, please.
which millet shireen. there are quite a number if millets in the market. are you talking about jowar roti. there is bajra roti already posted on the blog.
Looks very yummy goimg to try it out
i have had them in my maharastriam neighbours house in delhi.. they are soo yummy… i am not sure i will be able to make it this diwali.. but i will definitelt book mark this recipe for later…:)
yummy..interesting recipe…