Shankarpali – the sweet and the savory kind, both baked in 12 minutes! 6 cups of Shankarpali made in under 30 minutes!
I am so excited to share this loveable Diwali snack with you! Diamond shaped Shankarpali, is the favored snack in the array of special snacks that are made for Diwali. Shankarpali are made both sweet and savory and are popular in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Traditionally, the dough for sweet shankarpali is made of flour, ghee, milk and sugar, which is left to rest for an hour or so, then deep fried in ghee or oil. I like them with a hint of cardamom or saffron. The savory ones are also traditionally deep fried. Instead I have baked them, spicing them with a combination of cumin and carom seeds.
My experiment was to bake them using pancake mix or a baking mix, knead dough and bake, with no waiting time and no deep frying. I used Trader Joe’s buttermilk pancake mix/baking mix and 2 percent milk (for the sweet Shankarpali). Using melted ghee instead of the melted butter will give a more authentic Shankarpali taste.
I rolled the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness for the savory ones and thinner for the sweet ones because I wanted to test the crispy crunchy factor of both. Please bear in mind that it does rise a little when baking. The verdict? I liked the texture of the thinner ones and my husband liked the slightly thicker ones 😉
Bottom row, left to right the Savory Shankarpali, dough rolled, cut and ready for baking. Bottom right, the Baked Savory Shankarpale after baking for 12 minutes.
The whole process of making the dough, rolling and cutting it, took me no more than 10~ 15 minutes to have both the Sweet and Savory Shankarpali trays ready for baking and another 12 minutes for the Shankarpali to bake!
The result is 3 cups each of the Savory and Sweet Shankarpali! Here are the recipes!
Sweet Shankarpali-
Ingredients-
- 1½ cups buttermilk pancake mix
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 6~ 8 green cardamoms, peeled and seeds powdered ,about 3/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 3 tablespoons melted ghee
- About ¼ cup milk
Note- ghee and cardamom are key ingredients in this recipe to get the authentic flavor
To make the Baked Pancake mix Shankarpali-
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the pancake mix, confectioners’ sugar, salt and cardamom powder. Pour in the melted butter and rub it in the dry mix, lightly, with your fingertips. Add the milk, a little at a time, to make the dough.
- Roll the dough on an ungreased baking sheet or tray lined with aluminum foil to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into diamond shapes.
- Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool. Gently separate into diamonds, if needed.
Savory Shankarpali-
Ingredients-
- 1½ cup pancake mix
- ½ teaspoon roasted cumin seed powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons oil
- About ¼ cup water
To make the Savory Shankarpali-
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Drizzle the 3 tablespoons of oil and lightly rub it in the dry mix with your fingertips. Add the water, a little at a time, until the dough comes together. Knead the dough lightly.
- Roll the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness, on an ungreased cookie sheet or baking tray lined with aluminum foil.
- Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool. Separate into diamonds, if needed.
I hope my experiment has inspired you to make these quick and easy, figure friendly, Shankarpali!
Love,
Sandhya
indfused.com 
These sound interesting. I may just have to try this.
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Thank you so much! They are really good.
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Hi sandhya,
I made the 3-2-1 microwave pedhas for ganpati prasad & they were a HIT
Thank you so much for the recipe. My inlaws were visiting from india & they loved these pedhas so did my daughters.
Do you have a recipe for nankatai? There are so many recipes on the internet but i wanted to ask you as i know your recipes are always foolproof 😃keep posting..
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Thank you so much Jui! I am so glad that your in laws and your daughters loved the pedhas.
I have not made nankatai in a long time. The amount of butter in it scares me:) Have you seen the sweet Shankarpale I posted today? With the caradmom in it, it reminded us a bit of nankatai.
Hope to see you soon.Thank you so much for the compliment!
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These sound great, wspeially the savory ones. I’ve had ajwain in my pantry for some time but only recently started using them in dishes. I didn’t know what I’d been missing!
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Greg, I know what you mean! I like ajwain in certain recipes too and it tastes awesome in these savory Shankarpale.
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Those look so good, you are so precise when you cut the diamond shapes. Perfect.
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Suzanne, you are so kind. I am really not patient in cutting the diamond shapes. I used a pizza wheel cutter which seemed to have a mind of its own:)
Thank you so much for the compliment though! I was happy about the taste and texture of this traditionally deep fried food.
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Well they look like each one is exactly the same size and the lines are straight it was amazing to me. They sound absolutely delicious.
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Thank you Suzanne!
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Would you look at these gorgeous photos? The first two pictures are just beautiful, were they taken outdoors? You’ve assembled it all so perfectly together too. I must say I have not heard of these before, but they look beautiful. Like Suzanne, I think the diamond shapes were so precise, well done! I like the idea of these being baked.
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Thank you Loretta. The first two photos were taken by a window where the sunlight and shadows were getting too difficult to control:) thank you so much for the compliments.
The Shankarpali are very popular especially at Diwali time and traditionally,the sweet ones are loaded with butter and deep fried…of course they taste yummy:)
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These looks amazing! I love that you made a sweet and savory version. Yum!
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Thank you Antonia!
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Healthy Baked snack… Love it.. Thanks for sharing such oil free recipe sandhya
Sowmia – Sowmia’s Galley
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Thank you dear Sowmia!
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I like going to Trader Joe’s in Columbus, Ohio. This use of buttermilk pancake mix really sounds like a simple way to make a tasty treat. ♡ Both savory snd sweet doughs sound good for different purposes. 🙂
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Thank you Robin! I like going to Trader Joe’s too.
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Love Shankarpalis ! Reminded me of my Grandmoms !
The baked ones are very creative
http://www.mumbaitomelbourne.com/food-and-health-blog-posts/strawberry-almond-and-peanut-butter-smoothie
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Thank you so much Sharvari! I am so glad you visited my blog too.Just checked out your awesome blog!
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Yummy! That looks SO delicious! And like it’s relatively easy to bake. Can’t wait to try them!
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Hi Sandhya
I came across your recipe just in time when planning to make savoury shankarpali. Will bisquik be ok to use instead of buttermilk pancake mix?
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Veena, I have not tried itr with Bisquick but I believe it should work as the basic ingredients in both mixes are similar. Good luck! Let me know. I am happy with this baked version. Dont miss the fried savory shankarpali
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The bisquik version was a hit!! I just added whipped cream instead of milk for the sweet version.
Any suggestions if karanjis can be baked as well?
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So glad to know that the bisquick version worked so well! I have a baked karanji recipe on Indfused https://indfused.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/colorful-crispy-caranjis-with-ooey-gooey-good-coconut-filling/
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Hi Sandhya,
I came across your receipe and would like to make it this year. What is the shelf life for this? I want to make ahead of the Diwali so wanted to know when I can make it.
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Sakar para, will make these one day.
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Sandhya, these look amazing. How long can you store these after making them?
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They do store well Richa,no problem. I have had them for over a week in the cabinet. Usually they are gone fast as everyone loves them 🙂
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