Mithai Galore: Diwali Special:Khoya Malpua

Author Rekha Gupta.

A country of festivals , celebrated in gratitude and as an offering to God. Festivals are a celebration of life and beyond, that are colourful , fun, mystical and thereby create a stronger bond with family, friends and neighbours and ‘to let go’ of the unpleasant past . We all know that Deepawali a festival of lights that marks triumph of good over bad and is celebrated all over with renewed hope & enthusiasm for future. Preparations start as early as a month in advance. And so here I am to share with all of you., some of my old, to-die for recipes of Indian sweets. As I grew and evolved in my cooking journey , store bought eateries became less and less frequent at our place and over the last 2 decades, we have completely stopped getting store made stuff. My family and friends who know me well and visit me often will vouch that every snack ,sweet or savoury to all main courses are completely home made. Thats my way of showing affection to them ❤️ I suggest you give a shot to these recipes. A little complicated maybe, but believe me worth every cent of effort you put in.

Malpua is a ‘must’ sweet delicacy in our home, made almost on every festival or get together. As mentioned before I like to add my own personal element to every dish that I cook . Malpua is usually made using all purpose flour or semolina, I however use homemade ‘khoya’ and very little apf. Believe me this one secret substitute takes this dessert to another level. You will have your friends and guests licking their fingers wondering how to resist.C@Rg

It requires passion and patience as its time consuming. Please follow the tips to the T more than the recipe and I promise try once and you will never eat the market ones again. Tips are in bold capital letters and in brackets. I make cooking fun time involving my children and the full family ,thereby a good way to maintain our age old recipes and pass them on to generation next. C@Rg

As you are all aware by now, I use unrefined sugar (for its medicinal properties) so its Rock Sugar (Dhaga Mishri) for me and I cook and deep fry only in Pure Cow Ghee [Amul]. You are free to use any refined oil and the usual sugar. Please note for best results Khoya has to be home made as the market one has a different texture and it maybe highly adulterated.

U S P – My dishes have to be healthy and tasty both hence no short cuts.

MALPUAS RECIPE: 30-40 PIECES ( 1 tbsp of batter each time)

Ingredients ; for cooking KHOYA

Cows MILK – 2 litre [ Amul’s cow fresh packet milk ], Ghee- 1tea sp.

Steps –

1 In a big heavy base steel kadahi , bring milk to a boil .

2 Then leave it to simmer on medium flame, stirring it once every 5 -10 minutes so that milk does’nt burn at the the base of the pan . It will take more than an hour to evaporate and for it to reduce to 1/3rd of the whole portion. The last 20 minutes are crucial- you have to STIR IT CONSTANTLY till its golden and becomes one whole lump and leaves the sides of the pan. At this stage add 1 tsp, ghee and give it one final stir.

Khoya is ready, remove in a bowl and keep aside .

Ingredients for MALPUA-

Home made khoya 🙁 made of 2ltrs amul cows milk)

MILK : 2 cups boiled & cooled to room temperature ,

MAIDA / all purpose flour :1 cup sieved ,

SAUNF POWDER / FENNEL POWDER : 1 tsp .

BAKING SODA : I Pinch

COWS GHEE : 1 cup for deep frying .

STEPS

1) In a mixing bowl add Khoya & Maida , now add milk little by little and keep mixing till you get a smooth semi thick batter of pouring consistency [without lumps ],you will need a little less than 2 cups milk.

3) Mix saunf powder ,Cover and leave the batter to rest for 20 minutes, meanwhile we will prepare the sugar syrup for Malpuas .

Ingredients for SUGAR SYRUP –

DHAGA MISHRI : 7 cups

WATER : 5 .5 cups

ELAICHI powder/ Cardmom powder 1tea sp.

(Incase you are wondering at the quantity of the syrup, please note for them to remain good in fridge for a week they need to remain soaked in a lot of syrup.)

1) Keep the Mishri and water in a big heavy base steel pan on medium flame to bring it to a boil .Cover and let mishri dissolve completely.

2) After it boils let it simmer for another 5 minutes ,test a drop in between your two fingers ,it should be like Honey -STICKY to feel but NO THREAD . Add elaichi powder Cover and keep it aside .

Deep fry the Malpuas-

1) Keep a heavy base steel fry pan with 3/4 cup ghee in it on medium flame . Ghee should be not more than one inch in height .[Fry pan should we wide mouth , not more than 3 inches in height]

2) Stir the batter , sprinkle a pinch of BAKING SODA all over and stir the mixture with a light hand .

3) If you feel the batter has thickened in 15 min (it usually thickens ) add 2 tbsp milk and mix well.

4) When Ghee is hot , put the flame on medium ,now pour a ladle full of batter to form a small round pancake, pour 4 to 5 malpuas at a time . Immediately start pouring hot ghee from the pan itself with a teaspoon on top of each Malpua as this process will help them to puff up. (see below, they puff like puris)

5) After 5 -6 min. when one side is cooked ,gently with a spoon flip each one so they are evenly cooked and turn a dark golden all over.

6) Remove and immediately soak them in hot sugar syrup.

7) Prepare all like this , when done leave them covered for two hours at room temperature ,then keep them in fridge. Stay good kept in fridge for a week.

Serve them hot with Rabri and pistachios.

Remember to offer Bhog to Bhagwanji before enjoying this unique yum sweet. 🙏

Author Rekha Gupta.

For Rabri Recipe: Please check my blog on Rasmalai: https://blogitwithrekha.com/2020/09/10/rasgulla-rasmalai-chamcham/

Wishing you all a very Happy Diwali !! Have a sweet and safe diwali.🎉🎊