Malpua – An Indian Dessert

This has been achieved from my ‘to-do’ list! At last after days of thinking of making this super yummy Indian Dessert I finally made them last Saturday afternoon. ‘A’ wanted his quota of afternoon nap after I made him the Butter Garlic Rice for Lunch and I had the Egg White Cucumber Salad, I got all the time in the World to make these little blessings.

Normally Malpua’s are flattish round pan cakes like to look at,  however, I make them into a little bigger rounds and once they soak up all the Sugar Syrup they swell up all the more. In my In-Law’s house I have seen they make Dry Malpua’s meaning they are not dipped in Sugar Syrup after being fried, that is another way of making Malpua’s too. In my Parent’s house I have always had Malpua’s soaked in Sugar Syrup and I am more fond of them as I have a very strong Sweet tooth :D

The Man of the house takes everything to another level all together, for him I dipped these into the Sugar Syrup, drenched them in some Condensed Milk and decorated with some roughly chopped Almonds, I so wish somebody wakes me up from sleep with something as awesome as this..sigh!!

Without the Condensed Milk topping

Here is what you will need to make Malpua’s:

For the Sugar Syrup:

Sugar – 2 Cups

Water – 1.5 Cups

Cardamoms – 3-4, a little crushed

For the Pancakes:

Milk : 1 Cup

Semolina – ½ Cup

All Purpose Flour – ½ Cup

Khoya/ Solidified Milk : ½ Cup - grated

Baking Powder – 1/4^th tsp

Raisins – a handful (My Mother always adds this, and I love the taste of supple Raisins in my Malpua’s)

Fennel Seeds – ½ tsp, crushed

Ghee / Clarified Butter or Oil to deep fry – I used Cooking Oil but traditionally Malpua’s are deep fried in Ghee

How to make Malpua’s :

Heat 1.5 Cups of Water in a Vessel, add 2 Cups of Sugar and let the Sugar dissolve slowly, stir occasionally to make sure the Sugar does not burn, once desired thickness of the Sugar Syrup is achieved, turn off the Gas

Take 1 Cup of Warm Milk and pour the Semolina in, mix well and set aside for 15 minutes

After 30 minutes, in the same mixture add ½ Cup of All Purpose Flour, Khoya and crushed Fennel Seeds and Raisins, mix and let the batter rest for an hour

After an hour heat Oil / Ghee for deep frying the Malpua’s

Add the Baking Powder to the batter and mix with a whisk one last time

Once the Oil / Ghee is hot, take a ladle and scoop out one Malpua at a time & slide them into the hot Oil, once one side is nicely browned, turn and fry the other side, once both sides are done, drain on Kitchen towel if you want

Re-heat the Sugar Syrup a little and drop the Malpua’s in, let them settle in the Sugar Syrup and swell up with the liquid – give it about 30 minutes

Serve with a tbsp of Condensed Milk and chopped Almonds - have them the way you wish! :D