All of us want to be happy, it is an innate desire of mankind. The purpose of celebrating these various festivals is exactly that. These celebrations go a long way in improving our sense of being and to add to it the lovely memories we accumulate along the way are priceless.
So, cutting the philosophy short and coming to the point. I love all festivities and always like to live it up ! I recommend you do it too. Have grown up in a cosmopolitan neighbourhood, where all the festivals were celebrated with equal enthusiasm. Those cherished days were a real part of my childhood, which now I miss. Don’t think too much about religion and cultural backgrounds etc. These things bind us and give us a narrow outlook.
Holi is a vibrant festival, full of colours and playful mischief. Both children and the elders look forward to the celebrations. Although, this year it is a little restricted but that doesn’t mean we cannot fill our lives with colours. And what better way to do it other than food.
In this post we take a look at Malpua. It is a traditional sweet, kind of an Indian pancake. Malpuas are soft and fluffy, coated in sugar syrup and served with delicious and rich cold Rabri. (sweet thickened milk). These are one of my favourites of all the Indian sweets. In India the Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Orissa regions it is a must during festivities. It is not really a great dessert for the weight-watchers, but there are those days when you want to cheat a bit.
So I decided to CHEAT. Now I am sure you will agree, that it is an inseperable part of being a food blogger. But when you DO decide to cheat on your diet, it BETTER BE WORTH IT. Hot malpuas made with khoya served with chilled rabri does the trick.
Malpuas can be thick and fluffy or crisply thin and crunchy. The consistency of the batter decides that. If the batter is thin they will turn out crisp and vice-a-versa. Usually, after mixing the ingredients the batter is fermented for around 5 to 6 hours. But you can also, make them instantly with a pinch of baking soda.
I have made these with full fat milk, khoya and paneer giving the dish a rich flavour. The semolina (rava) makes them nice and crisp.
MALPUA WITH RABRI
Ingredients :
For Rabri :
1 litre whole milk (reduced to half quantity)
½ cup condensed milk
½ cup crumbled paneer
½ tsp Elaichi (Cardamom) Powder
2 tbsp Mixed Dried Fruits chopped
For Sugar Syrup :
250 gms Sugar
300 ml Water
For Malpua :
200 gms Maida
50 gms rava (semolina)
½ cup mawa/khoya
1 cup water
1 pinch Baking Soda
25 gms paneer crumbled
Ghee for shallow frying
Method :
Rabri
Crumble paneer coarsely and keep aside.
Add the condensed milk to the reduced milk and stir well on low heat.
Add the crumbled paneer to this reduced milk and mix.
Add chopped nuts, kesar (saffr0n) and elaichi powder.
Remove from flame. Cool and refrigerate.
Sugar Syrup
Put sugar and water in a pan and bring to a boil. Keep aside. The consistency needs to be a little thick and sticky.
Malpua
- Combine, semolina, maida, curd, water and baking soda. Mix well and leave for 10-15 minutes.
- Crumble mawa/khoya and paneer very finely till smooth and add to the mixture. Beat well.
- Heat ghee for shallow frying in a flat pan.
- Pour 1 small ladle of batter to make a small, flat malpua about 2”- 3” in diameter.
- Fry till both sides get evenly browned.
- Remove and soak in syrup for ½ minute.
- Remove from syrup. Arrange on a shallow plate. Top with chilled rabri and nuts and serve hot.
Handy tips :
- Malpua is usually rested for few hours to enhance the flavours. However you can even make them instantly if you are short of time a pinch of baking soda will do the trick.
- The sugar syrup for soaking the malpuas needs to be sticky but not too thick otherwise the malpuas will not absorb the syrup.
- The batter consistency should not be too runny cause then the malpuas tend to spread out quite a bit on the pan.
- The recipe I have shared is with all-purpose flour. One can also use wheat flour for health reasons.
- The ghee lends a rich flavour to the malpuas and I do not recommend replacing ghee with oil. But for some reason you plan to use oil for frying instead of ghee go ahead. The taste will vary though.
