LONDON CAKE / PEANUT BRITTLE / CHIKKI / KADALA MUTTAI

Ihave a problem. A serious problem.If I see a photograph of something that I really like, I have to make it then and there...no matter what time it is :) What would happen otherwise? I would dream about it and wake up hungry, it's that simple :-) Have you all faced such stuff? I do, most of the time...therefore inorder to get a good night's sleep, I have to cook and eat it!

This peanut chikki was one among them.This is such a favourite for all of us, in my family. Appan is super happy if he has a bar of it. I was,is and will always be happy if I have 2 bars of it. Ritchie is not as greedy as I am, so he is happy if he has a bar of it :-) Amma likes it too maybe not as crazy as we 3 are. Appan,his brother and my uncle Tom and my grandmother calls it a  London Cake ,don't ask me why? :-)

This peanut chikki was one of the items we had to make in our college lab for the candy making class. In our labs, we are not allowed to use a candy thermometer so after many burnt fingers, we all got different stages of  melting the sugar right.Whenever I came home on weekends from the hostel, I used to take 'Manna'(my fave brand) slabs (read many) back with me. The last time when I went home and shopped at the supermarket, those Manna slabs were staring at me and I did pick up a few. How can I leave them behind when they were my everything during the hostel days??

LONDON CAKE / PEANUT BRITTLE / CHIKKI / KADALA MUTTAI
Recipe source: Nithi & Sharmi

Ingredients:
1 c roasted skinless peanuts
3/4 c white sugar

Method: Crush the peanuts coarsely,using a mixie. Make a dry caramel (Melt sugar without water in a pan, till it dissolves completely. It will turn dark brown in colour).* Switch off the heat and add the crushed peanuts and mix well, quickly. Immediately,pour this over a greased plate/parchment paper,roll it into 1/4" thickness using a greased rolling pin and mark into desired shapes with a greased knife. Let it cool completely. Break into pieces.

* Timing is crucial in this recipe, so as soon as the last crystal/lump of sugar melts add the peanuts.Roll it out as soon as it is poured and mark into desired shapes.

After seeing a photograph of it on Facebook, I told Jobin that I wanted to eat Kadala Muttai. It was around 9 pm then and I was sure that I didn't want to ask him to take me to the store as the Indian stores would be closed by then :-) It's not just that, the peanut chikki, irrespective of the brand that I have tried here has always been soft,chewy and tasteless. I like them to be crisp, crunchy and brittle...they way they are meant to be.

Therefore without a second thought, I went straight into the kitchen and made it. It hardly took me 10 mins.The dinner was finished in seconds as I had my little quick dessert waiting for me :-)