A delightful treat, Malpua is normally enjoyed during festival of Holi, on its own or with some thick Rabdi trickling over it, making it even more extravagant.
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This popular sweet dish, especially in northern and eastern India, is soft and round and traditionally made using mawa/khoya. But this easy recipe skips mawa and replaces it with milk powder, so that you can indulge in it whenever you fancy, even when khoya is not easily available. Check out how to make Malpua as a sweet / dessert for special occasions and festivities in a quick video below.
Quick, easy to follow video with step-by-step instructions of how to make Malpua:
Malpua is an indulgent puri that is soaked in sugar syrup, making it a delicious delicacy that’s perfect for any festivities or special occasions.
Just a few simple ingredients
The main ingredients for making traditional Malpoa are plain flour (maida), semolina (rava/suji) and full fat whole milk along with mawa/khoya.
But in this Malpua recipe, I have replaced mawa/khoya with full cream whole milk powder as fresh, good quality mawa is not easily available at many places and making mawa at home is a lengthy and tiresome process. As against this, milk powder is easy to buy and store and is readily available whenever needed.
Fennel seeds (saunf) add a slightly unique taste to these Malpuas. But remember to slightly crush fennel seeds before adding them so that their flavour in Malpuas is enhanced.
Green cardamom (elaichi) and Saffron when added to sugar syrup make these Malpoas all the more flavourful.
Garnishing with slivered almonds (badam) and pistachios (pista) is optional but Malpuas do look really good when these are sprinkled on the top, not to mention the crunch that they add whilst eating is quite pleasing too.
Right consistency batter
Batter for Malpua should be of thick, pouring consistency. Too thin and Malpuas won’t hold their shape and won’t blow up like puris while frying; too thick and they will be dense and won’t spread enough to form a circle when poured in hot oil. Using measurements mentioned in this recipe will give you the batter of perfect consistency.
Batter can be prepared using milk or water, but I like to use full fat whole milk only as it makes Malpuas rich and luscious, perfect for special occasions.
Ideally the batter should be left to rest for 4-5 hours, but there are times when you are in a hurry and can’t wait that long. During such times, leaving it to rest for just 1 hour should also be fine; but best results will be achieved when you leave the batter to rest for 4-5 hours.
Sugar syrup with perfect consistency
Key to getting really tasty Malpuas is getting the consistency of sugar syrup right. No matter how good your ingredients are and how well your Malpuas get fried, but if your sugar syrup is not cooked properly, they won’t taste good!
If syrup is thin and too watery, Malpuas will be tasteless and bland, and if the syrup is cooked a lot and too thick, it will find it hard to penetrate Malpuas leaving them dry from inside and overly sticky from outside. Also, as this thick syrup will start cooling down it will create a whitish, unsightly crisp layer on the outside.
But thankfully its extremely easy to know when sugar syrup has reached perfect consistency. Always cook sugar syrup on low heat only whilst stirring continuously so that it doesn’t get overcooked quickly. Also, keep checking sugar syrup regularly after sugar dissolves, and remove from heat as soon as it is sticky and starts feeling like honey. But be careful while checking as syrup will be very HOT!
Frying the right way
Always use a pan that has a flat bottom while frying Malpuas as the batter needs to settle to the bottom of the pan and spread, and flat bottom will aid this process and give you nice, round Malpuas.
Frying Malpuas requires lot of patience. You should fry only 1-2 malpuas at a time slowly on LOWEST heat setting only. Malpuas can quickly burn, have an irregular shape or not puff up if they are fried on medium or high heat.
Start making Malpuas only after oil has become medium hot. First the batter will settle to the bottom of the pan, spread and form a circle, then it will slowly rise to the top, start floating and puff up. Fry till Malpuas are golden brown from both sides.
Then after frying, quickly add Malpuas to WARM sugar syrup. Remember, the sugar syrup has to be WARM, not hot or cold but WARM, so that the Malpuas can soak up the syrup and become deliciously soft and sweet from within. Let them rest for 5-10 mins in the syrup, then drain out excess sugar syrup, garnish with slivered almonds (badam) and pistachios (pista) and serve.
You can enjoy these delicious homemade Malpuas as a sweet or a dessert during festivals of Holi, Dussehra or Diwali. These Malpuas are so versatile that they can be enjoyed as a sweet treat on their own, or with some Lachedar Rabdi or as a part of a meal. Give this delicious, traditional Indian sweet a try today.
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Step-by-step instructions with photos for Malpua:
• In a bowl add plain flour (maida), semolina (rava/suji), fennel seeds (saunf), whole milk powder and mix well.
• Now start adding milk, little at a time, and mixing to form a lump free batter.
• Cover and let it rest for 4-5 hours. If you are in a hurry, you can leave it for just 1 hour, but you’ll get better results when you let it rest for 4-5 hours.
• After 4-5 hours heat sugar and water on low setting till sugar dissolves.
• To this add green cardamom (elaichi) powder and saffron (kesar) and mix well.
• Check the sugar syrup after it comes to a boil, it should be sticky and feel like honey. Be careful while checking, syrup will be hot! Remove from heat.
• Mix the batter once again after 4-5 hours.
• Heat oil in a flat bottom pan on low setting.
• After oil is medium hot pour some batter in the pan. It will settle to the bottom of the pan, spread and form a circle.
• As it fries, it will slowly float to the top and puff up. If it doesn’t puff up much, you can carefully splash some oil on top of Malpua to help it puff up.
• When it is golden brown from bottom, gently flip it over. Only fry 1 or 2 Malpuas at a time slowly on LOWEST heat setting ONLY. Malpuas may brown quickly and burn, have an irregular shape and may not puff up if fried on medium/high heat.
• Remove Malpua after it’s golden brown all over
• Immediately dip in WARM sugar syrup. Syrup has to be WARM, not hot or cold but WARM.
• Let it rest for 5-10 mins so that it can soak up the sugar syrup. After 5-10 mins drain out excess syrup.
• Malpuas are ready. Sprinkle some slivered almonds (badam) and pistachios (pista) and serve. Enjoy!
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