• Take all purpose flour/maida in a large bowl and a pinch of salt to it. Then add melted ghee to the flour (or use oil).
• Mix the ghee with the flour by rubbing the flour between your palms. This helps in incorporating the ghee well with the flour and makes the shakarpara flaky. Take some flour and press it between your palms. If it hold it's shape it means the ghee and was enough and well incorporated. Set this aside.
• Meanwhile, take 1/3 cup of water and heat it up a little. Then add sugar and mix until the sugar dissolves in the water.
• Now, add the water-sugar mixture to the flour mix. Start mixing everything together and form a smooth and soft dough. Cover the dough with a cloth/plate and let it rest for 20 minutes.
• Once rested, divide it into 2 or 3 equal parts. Take one part and roll it into a dough ball and then using a rolling pin, roll the dough into 1/6 inch thickness.
• Use a sharp knife or pastry cutter and cut the rolled dough into squares (1/2 to 3/4 inch squares) by cutting the dough vertically first and then horizontally. Roll and cut the remaining dough similarly. Keep the cut shakarpara covered until ready to fry else they will dry out.
• Heat oil in a wok or kadai on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot (check by dropping a little bit of the dough into the oil, if it comes up within 10 seconds, the oil is hot), add the cut shakarpara to it. Immediately reduce the heat to low-medium. This is important, if you fry them on high heat they will not turn crispy.
• Fry for 3 to 4 minutes on medium-low heat until the shakarapara is golden brown in color. Fry all the shakarpara in batches. Make sure to increase the temperature of oil a little after frying every batch. Then add the shakarpara and reduce the temperature again and repeat.
• Drain the fried shakarpara on a paper towel. They will crisp up as they cool down. Let them cool completely and then store in an airtight container. They should be good for 2 weeks at room temperature.

Air Fryer Option

• Preheat your air fryer according to manufacturer's instructions. Air fry at 370 F degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until they are crisp and golden brown in color. Every air fryer is different so this might take more or less time depending on the air fryer you have.