What happens when gulkand meets Mysore Pak this Deepavali?

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No matter where you fall in the soft-versus-crunchy debate, you have to agree that Mysore Pak is one of south India’s most recognisable sweets. Chennai-based brand Sweet Karam Coffee has teamed up with Rakesh Raghunathan, a judge on MasterChef India (Tamil), to reimagine this iconic mithai for Deepavali.

Consumers sent in their flavour ideas, ranging from whacky to compelling. Rakesh is recreating the winning ideas, and the brand will add one to their portfolio as a limited edition.

“At Sweet Karam Coffee, one of their most popular products is the Mysore Pak,” says Rakesh who is the brand’s culinary ambassador. “It is one of those sweets which is well known throughout India, so we thought let us play around with it.” Consumers were encouraged to send their own recipes over social media, email, or through a Google form created by the brand. “There were some great responses that come in. There were of course predictable ones, like a mango, coconut, or a pandan flavoured one. And some which were really out there, like Korean gochujang! We have not chosen a winner yet, but we know the flavours that we are going to try and recreate.”

Mysore pak was born in the Mysuru palace sometime during the reign of Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja in the early 20th century. “Kakasura Madappa was a chef in the royal kitchen. One day he came up with this concoction made of besan, sugar and ghee. Even today there is a sweet shop in Mysuru called Guru Sweet Mart. Their ancestry can be traced to this cook,” says Rakesh.

Five flavours have been shortlisted, and these will be recreated. They include jackfruit, dark chocolate sea salt, rose pistachio, banana milk and paan gulkand. The winners will receive customised boxes with this set of flavorus.

Jackfruit is used across South India in sweets such as halwas and payasams, so it is not hard to imagine it in Mysore pak. Dark chocolate sea salt is a popular flavour choice for confectionary, and the balancing act between the two notes make it a crowd pleaser. Rose pistachio draws from West Asian influences, while banana milk reaches to East Asia. Paan gulkand is another that cross boundaries to the Northern part of our country.

“There were many other good recipes sent in, such as mango-coconut, roasted cashew and salted caramel. Ultimately, we chose these. Some entries were just not palatable. Someone suggested wasabi. Then there was a galangal flavour. A lot of Korean influences were there, such as kimchi,” says Rakesh.

Indians are very protective about their recipes, so is there a demand for ‘fusion’ sweets, we ask Rakesh. “Yes, I think there is a market for modern innovative sweets. Korean flavours are making their way into chips and peanuts. There is room for experimentation. But how big can brands bet on that product, is the key question. At the end of the day, when you are looking at scale it is difficult to try and bring in that impact..”

Experimenting with Mysore pak is nothing new. However, adding a kimchi twist is likely to made even the most adventurous eater pause. This year at least, we will subsist on jackfruit.

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