Dry Fruit Chikki

Dry Fruit Chikki or Mixed Nuts Chikki is loaded with dry fruits, healthy seeds, and jaggery. Its just another variation of peanut chikki. It makes a perfectly natural and homemade energy bar.

Chikki is a staple in Indian homes and one of my personal favorite and commonly eaten during winters and festivals like Lohri and Makar Sankranti.

The rich flavor and the texture of the the dry fruit chikki will make you want to keep munching on them. It satisfies your sweet tooth and keeps your body warm in winters and is a perfect replacement of chocolates and candies.

Its so tasty, very addictive and remains one of my favorites since childhood. I would wait for winters every year so that I could get to eat this fresh homemade chikki. Since last 4 years now it has become our home tradition to make this chikki during winter and my husband enjoy munching on them.

How to make Dry Fruit Chikki

They are quiet easy to make with just a few ingredients. Making dry fruit chikki is so easy yet tricky, so need to carefully follow the recipe to get the perfect homemade chikki.

For Dry Fruit Chikki you will need mixed nuts of your choice. In this recipe I have used roasted peanuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, cashew, melon seeds, sesame seeds. Dry roast all the roughly chopped dry-fruits of your choice on low-medium flame. Once roasted, transfer the dry-fruits to a plate and let them cool down a bit.

Heat 1 teaspoon ghee, add jaggery and 2-3 tablespoon water in it. The jaggery will melt and then start bubbling away. Once the jaggery syrup reaches the hard ball stage, add the roasted dry-fruits to the pan and mix well till all the nuts are well coated with the syrup. To enhance the flavor I have used ghee and cardamom powder.

Transfer mixture to a parchment paper. You may also use chopping board/baking pan which has been greased well. I just prefer rolling this between two sheets of parchment paper, makes it so easy. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top and roll the mixture to 1/4 inch thickness.

Jaggery Hard Ball Consistency

Dry Fruit Chikki is crunchy and crispy just like brittle, and it’s sweetness comes from jaggery. You can also replace jaggery with the sugar but traditionally chikki’s are made using jaggery.

Making perfect dry fruit chikki needs some practice to know when the jaggery is done. To check drop some jaggery syrup in a bowl of cold water, it would settle at the bottom and you should be able to form a solid ball out of it. If it is hard enough and snaps then jaggery syrup has reached the perfect consistency and ready to add the nuts.

Types of Chikki

Chikkis are traditionally made and relished the most during the festival of Lohri. There are a variety of chikki made with different nuts and ingredients, but peanuts and sesame is the most common in all.

Growing up I still remember me an my brother used to fight for Chikkis and Til ke Laddu. During Makar Sankranti my mom used to make white and black sesame chikki, puffed rice (murmura) chikki, beaten rice chikki and Peanut chikki, roasted chickpea chikki etc. Memories are so fresh and as per me food plays a major role in refreshing memory.

Tips For Making Perfect Dry Fruit Chikki

• Choose chemical free regular jaggery. Prefer to use dark brown jaggery to get that dark glossy colour.
• To enhance the favors of the chikki add 1 teaspoon of ghee and pinch of cardamom powder to the nuts and jaggery mixture.
• Roast the dry fruits/nuts on low-medium flame for 3-4 minutes before adding them to jaggery syrup.
• It requires a specific jaggery consistency to get the perfect texture. Jaggery syrup should be cooked till hard ball consistency. If less then the chikki or brittle bar will result in chewy and soft texture. If cooked more then hard texture.
• You need to be really quick towards the end so keep all the ingredients ready so that you can quickly work on it without hassle and delay to achieve the perfect chikki.
• Make the cut marks with a knife when the chikki mixture is still warm.

Here is an easy and quick Dry Fruit Chikki recipe for you to prepare at home and store in an airtight jar to relish for long.

Do try other dessert recipes:

• Til ke Laddu
• Khajur Barfi
• Fruit Cake
• Mawa Gujiya
• Kalakand
• Kaju Pista Roll
• Dry Fruits Laddu
• Coconut Burfi
• Sabudana Kheer
• Instant Modak
• Rice Kheer
• Jalebi
• Rasmalai
• Dry Fruits Laddu
• Shahi Tukra
• Instant Gulab Jamun
• Cherry Ice Cream
• Thumbprint Cookies
• Strawberry Jam
• Mango Ice Cream
• Royal Falooda
• Mango Shrikhand
• Mango Mastani
• Almond Coconut Cookies
• Strawberry Lassi
• Til Ke Laddu

Preparation Time: 5mins  ∏  Cooking Time: 10 mins  ∏  Servings: 14-16 pieces 

Level: Intermediate(Medium)  ∏  Measurement: 1 Cup ≡ 250 ml ≡ 250gm

Ingredients Checklist:

How to make Dry Fruit Chikki

Step1: Heat a pan on low-medium flame add chopped almonds, peanuts, cashew, pumpkin seeds and dry roast for 3-4 minutes. Stir continuously. Then add sesame seeds and melon seeds and roast then for additional 2 minutes.

This will give a crunch to dry fruits. Once the nuts have got roasted well, remove them in a separate plate. Let them cool down. 

Step2: To the same pan heat 1 teaspoon ghee, add 1 cup jaggery along with 2-3 tablespoon water.

Step3: Mix well until the jaggery dissolves completely. Stir continuously. It will start boiling.

Step4: Let it boil on low-medium flame for around 4-5 minutes. Stir continuously until syrup bubbles and thickens slightly. The syrup will start changing it’s color to dark.

While the jaggery syrup is cooking, also keep a bowl of cold water where you can check the consistency of the syrup. 

Step5: To check the hard ball consistency, drop some syrup in a bowl of cold water. It will sink to the bottom and solidify.

Step6: If syrup forms a hard ball immediately, forms a brittle and snaps then switch off the flame. This is the consistency we need.

Step7: Once the jaggery syrup reaches the hard ball stage, quickly add the roasted nuts to the syrup.

Step8: Give a quick stir and mix very well till all the nuts are well coated with the syrup.

Step9: Immediately transfer the mixture to a parchment paper. You may also a chopping board/plate/baking pan which has been greased well. Press the mixture with the spatula.

Step10: I just prefer rolling this between two sheets of parchment paper. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top.

Step11: Using a rolling pin, roll the mixture to 1/4 inch thickness to even out the chikki layer. You can also place it on greased plate and press it with another plate.

Step12: Using spatula even out the edges. 

Step13: Now remove the parchment paper and then with a knife, mark lines so that its easier to cut into pieces once its set. Cut as per your desired size. Let the chikki cool at room temperature.

Step14: Once completely cool, break Dry Fruit Chikki into pieces and enjoy. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Enjoy!

Tips:

• Once the jaggery syrup reaches hard ball consistency then quickly work on making the chikki.
• Choose dry fruits/ nuts of your choice.