Mysore Pak vs Besan Barfi: How the Two Sweets Differ
Mysore pak and besan barfi are not the same sweet. Both start with gram flour (besan), sugar and ghee. But the method is different, and so is the bite. Mysore pak is airy, porous and buttery, and it melts. Besan barfi is denser, smoother and nuttier, and it cuts into clean squares. Read on and you’ll know which one to pick, which one to cook, and which one to order for a festival box.
TL;DR
Technique is the real difference. Mysore pak cooks besan into a hot sugar syrup. Besan barfi roasts besan in ghee first, then adds sugar.
Texture: Mysore pak is porous and melt-in-the-mouth. Besan barfi is dense, fudgy and a little grainy.
Origin: Mysore pak comes from the royal kitchens of Mysore in South India. Besan barfi is a North Indian festival sweet.
Health: Both are rich treats made with ghee and sugar. Keep portions small and treat them as special-occasion sweets.
Home cooking: Besan barfi is the more forgiving one for beginners.
Table of Contents
Same ingredients, two different sweets
Put the ingredient lists side by side and they look like twins. Mysore pak is made mainly from gram flour, sugar and ghee, often with cardamom. Besan burfi is made from gram flour, sugar, ghee and cardamom powder too.
So why do people argue about them? Because the cook’s hands change everything. It’s a bit like two rice dishes that share a pot and a grain but end up completely different. If that idea interests you, this comparison of two Spanish rice dishes makes the same point: technique, not shopping list, decides the result.
Here is the quick view.
Mysore pak | Besan barfi | |
Region | South India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu) | North India |
Method | Besan cooked into bubbling sugar syrup, ghee added in stages | Besan roasted in ghee first, then mixed with sugar |
Texture | Porous, honeycomb, melts fast | Dense, smooth, fudgy, sometimes slightly grainy |
Look | Golden brown, holes in the cut surface | Pale gold to brown, flat and even |
Flavor | Rich, buttery, caramel-sweet | Toasty, nutty, roasted-chickpea |
Difficulty at home | Hard. Syrup stage must be right | Easier. Needs stamina and patience |
Often made for | Weddings, festivals, sweet shop counters | Diwali, Holi, celebrations, gifting |
How Mysore pak is made
Mysore pak is built on syrup. You cook sugar and water to the right stage, then stir in besan and add hot ghee in lots until the mixture froths and pulls away from the pan. One mysore pak recipe describes gram flour and sugar cooked to a froth with ghee added in three lots, poured into a tray and cut while warm.
That froth is what gives you the holes. The mixture puffs up as the fat hits the hot besan and sugar, then sets with air trapped inside. That’s the “melts in your mouth” part.
The tricky bit is the sugar syrup stage, called paaka (the word is the “pak” in the name). Swasthi’s Recipes explains that a syrup slightly off leaves you with a sweet that is either rock-hard or won’t set. Many classic recipes also use a mix of ghee and oil, and the oil helps keep the texture light. Use only ghee and you get something denser, closer to a barfi.
The hard one and the soft one
You will hear people talk about two kinds. The hard, porous, honeycomb version is the old-school style. The soft, ghee-heavy version is richer and melts faster, almost like fudge. Hebbar’s Kitchen refers to soft or ghee Mysore pak as a distinct style with a golden brown color. Both are Mysore pak. Which you prefer is a matter of taste.
This is also where the confusion starts. A soft ghee Mysore pak that sets firm and dense can look a lot like besan barfi. If your Mysore pak “failed” and turned into a dense slab, you’ve made a barfi. That happens to a lot of cooks, and it still tastes good.
How besan barfi is made
Besan barfi starts with roasting. You stir besan in ghee over medium-low heat until it smells nutty and turns golden. Then you add sugar (as syrup, or powdered sugar once the mix cools a little), cardamom and sometimes nuts. You press it into a tray and cut it into squares or diamonds.
The roasting is the flavor. A properly roasted besan tastes toasty and deep. A rushed one tastes raw and a bit beany. It’s also the hard work: you need constant stirring to stop the besan catching and burning. NNWA lists the Indian Nutrient Databank version with besan, khoya and other ingredients, so some barfi recipes include milk solids. That makes them softer and creamier, and a little less shelf-stable.
A practical tip from home kitchens: use a heavy pan, ideally cast iron or a traditional iron kadai. Constant scraping at high heat is tough on non-stick coatings.
Origins: a royal kitchen and a festival tray
Mysore pak has a documented origin story. According to Wikipedia’s entry, it was first prepared in the early 20th century during the reign of Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. Tradition credits a palace cook named Kakasura Madappa. The sweet is still tied to Karnataka and, through shops across the region, to Tamil Nadu.
Besan barfi has no single inventor. It is a family sweet across North India, made for festivals and celebrations. That’s why you’ll find a hundred versions: some with khoya, some with semolina, some with a sprinkle of pistachio.
If you like thinking about how regions shape snacks, our guide to North vs South Indian snacks goes deeper.
Which one is better for you?
Neither is a health food, and we won’t pretend they are. Both are built on sugar and ghee.
The numbers vary a lot by piece size and recipe. One small piece of besan barfi is about 162 kcal, with 8.6 g of fat, based on the Indian Nutrient Databank. A piece of Mysore pak on one nutrition database is listed at 324 kcal with 21.4 g of fat. That is not a like-for-like comparison, because the piece sizes aren’t the same. But it shows the pattern. Mysore pak is usually the richer of the two, because so much ghee goes into the froth.
What does guidance say? The American Diabetes Association says sweets can fit into a healthy meal plan in small portions, and saves them for special occasions. The American Heart Association notes that swapping saturated fat for refined carbohydrates does not improve cardiovascular health. Both sweets are heavy on both. So the sensible move is to pick the one you love and eat a small piece.
If you manage diabetes, read the portion advice before you buy. Check the serving size on the label, and talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian about how sweets fit your plan. Our guide to sugar-free Indian sweets with 15 g carb portions can help you plan, and the jaggery vs sugar guide looks at whether swapping sweeteners really changes much.
Which one should you cook first?
Start with besan barfi. It’s more predictable, and the failure modes are mild. If you under-roast, you get a raw taste. If you over-roast, you get a darker, more bitter taste. You can fix the first one with a few more minutes of heat.
Mysore pak punishes small mistakes. Syrup too thin, it won’t set. Too thick, it turns hard. You need to be ready with the ghee, the tray and a steady hand. Try it once you feel good about barfi.
Some quick tips for both:
Sift the besan. Lumps give you a gritty sweet.
Measure everything before heat. Both sweets move fast at the end.
Keep the heat medium-low. Burnt besan can’t be rescued.
Use a heavy pan and a long spoon.
Cut while warm. Cold slabs shatter.
If you like working with chickpea flour, our gram flour snack template shows how a few moves cover many recipes.
Perspective: what we’d tell a friend
We love both. They’re comfort food, and they remind many of us of home.
If you want the sweet that feels like a festival tray, pick besan barfi. It’s cozy, toasty and familiar. If you want a showpiece, the kind of thing that makes a table go quiet for a second, pick Mysore pak.
We also think “homemade-style” should be honest. It doesn’t mean low-sugar or low-fat. It means real recipes, good ingredients and care in how things are made. These are treats. We’d eat them slowly, share them and enjoy them on the days that matter.
Storage matters too. Sweets with ghee and milk solids don’t love a warm counter. Our guide to Indian sweets shelf life for U.S. kitchens covers how long they last and how to store them. If gluten is a concern, check our gluten-free Indian sweets guide. Besan is naturally made from chickpeas, but cross-contact can still happen in a shared kitchen.
— Shivam
Craving something from home?
We make snacking easy for people who miss the taste of home. Browse our sweets, snacks, pickles and more. Looking for something savory to go with your sweet? Our Masala Sabji Pakora is a good place to start, and our Roasted Chana is a chickpea snack for everyday munching.
How to buy a good one
Whether you’re buying Mysore pak or besan barfi, a few checks help.
Look at the cut surface. Mysore pak should show tiny holes. Barfi should look even and fine-grained.
Smell it. Barfi should smell roasted and nutty. Ghee should smell clean, not stale.
Ask what’s in it. Some barfi uses khoya, which shortens shelf life.
Check the date. Sweets with ghee are best fresh.
Buy small. A small box lets you taste before you commit.
FAQ
Are Mysore pak and besan barfi the same?
No. They share besan, sugar and ghee, but the method differs. Mysore pak is cooked in sugar syrup and ends up porous and melty. Besan barfi is roasted in ghee first and ends up dense and fudgy.
Is Mysore pak made with besan?
Yes. Mysore pak is made primarily from gram flour (besan), sugar and ghee, often flavored with cardamom. The ghee-to-flour ratio is high, which is what makes it so rich.
Is besan barfi healthy?
It has some protein from chickpea flour, but it is still a sweet with added sugar and fat. Enjoy it in a small piece and not as a daily snack. If you manage blood sugar, ask your doctor or dietitian how it fits your plan.
Is Mysore pak healthy?
Not really. It is one of the richer Indian sweets because of the ghee. It’s a treat for special days, best shared and eaten in small pieces.
Why did my Mysore pak turn into besan barfi?
Usually the syrup stage was off, or you used too little oil and relied only on ghee. Either one gives you a denser sweet. It will still taste good, so cut it into squares and call it barfi.
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