Chikki

Chikkis are made using a combination of ingredients. Special chikkis are made out of cashews, almonds, pistachios, and also sesame seed. Though jaggery is the usual sweetener material, sugar is sometimes used as the base. It is a very popular sweet item in both rural and urban South Asia. In the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, preparation often takes place with a larger proportion of nuts to jaggery. In several states, chikkis in both square and round forms are available. ==Preparation==

The preparation of chikkis consists of first preparing the hot jaggery syrup with a minimum of water, adding nuts to the syrup to coat them (with the syrup) and then transferring the nuts to a wooden mould, then rolling them to a thickness of about 6–8 mm using a wooden roller, then placing into a steel plate for cooling, cutting into slabs, and packing. In homes, smaller quantities are hand rolled with wooden rollers. Most popular chikkis are sourced from the Indian towns of Bhuj in Gujarat; Kovilpatti in Tamil Nadu; Madurai, Palakkad, Central Travancore, Kannur, Cherthala in Kerala, Lonavala, Matheran, Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, and Karjat in Maharashtra. In Mumbai, a variety of chikki is made using rajgira (amaranth). ==See also==