KESAR MALPUA

Saunf and Elaichi Malpua with Kesar Kheer! So yum!

Last week during Eid break weather was gloomy and so cloudy in Muscat and we were under complete lockdown…Hubby was in a mood to rustle something to curb his sweet cravings and suggested to make Malpua and Kheer…immediately he took the charge and made this amazingly delicious kesar kheer (of course under my guidance) !😉😁

And I made these fennel and cardamom Malpuas dunked in kesar syrup…ah the crispy warm Malpuas and deliciously cold n creamy Saffron Kheer (rice pudding) was such a delight to enjoy in this perfect weather. What is your favorite rainy day treat???

PREP TIME: 30 minutes

COOK TIME: 25-30 minutes

SERVES: 12-14 (depending on the size)

INGREDIENTS

For Malpua:

• 100g Milk powder (full cream)

• 1/3 cup single cream or cooking cream

• 1 cup plain flour

• 1 1/4 cup milk (full cream) plus 1/4 extra if required

• 1 tsp fennel, lightly crushed

• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder

• 1 cup ghee for shallow frying + more if needed

For Sugar syrup:

• 1 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1 1/2 cup water

• Big pinch of saffron

For Garnish:

• 1 tbsp slivered pistachios

• Few saffron strands

• Few dried rose petals and buds

• Silver or gold leaf

METHOD

1. In a small glass bowl, add milk powder and cream, mix together and place it in microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from microwave, give a quick mix and put it back in for another minute. Mix again and heat for another 30-40 seconds in microwave. Mix and leave the khoya to cool completely.

2. Put cooled khoya and half of the milk in the blender and blend to make smooth paste. Pour the mixture in a large bowl, add rest of the milk and whisk. Add sifted flour, fennel and cardamom powder to the milk mixture, whisk together to make smooth lump free batter. Add bit more milk if the batter looks thick. It should be slightly thinner than the pancake batter consistency. Leave to rest for 15-20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile make the sugar syrup. Dissolve saffron in 2 tbsp water, let it stand for 5 minutes. Pour water, sugar and soaked saffron, bring to boil and reduce the flame and cook until it forms one string consistency. Do not make the syrup too thick else the malpuas won’t soak in the syrup. Let it cool and come to slightly warmer temperature.

4. Heat ghee in shallow pan, reduce the flame to medium. Pour a ladle full of batter in hot ghee for each malpua, and let it spread on its own. (Make 3 or 4 Malpuas at a time). Let the malpuas cook on one side for 2 -3 minutes or until there is no runny batter left on top. Carefully turn them around with the slotted spoon and cook for another 2 minutes until the edges are crisp and both sides look golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper for 1 minute. Repeat with all batter.

5. Now dunk the malpuas in sugar syrup for few seconds and place them on serving platter. Drizzle extra syrup on top and garnish with pistachios, rose petals, saffron strands and silver leaf. Serve warm with cold kesar kheer or rabri!
   

COOK'S NOTES

1. I made khoya at home using the milk powder and cream for the recipe. If you have access to fresh khoya use 100gms of that instead.

2. Make sure Malpua batter is lump free and is rested for at least 15-20 minutes before frying them.

3. I like the malpuas semi-thin (neither too thin or too thick) but if you like thin malpuas you can add little more milk in batter and change the consistency slightly thinner and vice-versa, add bit more flour to make it slightly thicker malpuas. It’s a personal preference.

4. You can also flavour the sugar syrup with rose water or cardamom as well instead of saffron.

5. Do not keep the syrup consistency too thick as Malpua will not soak the syrup in. Neither it should be too thin in consistency as the malpuas won’t stay crisp enough when dunked in thin syrup. It will make them bit soggy.

6. Don’t fry the malpuas on high flame, neither on low as both temperatures are not good for getting that perfect crispness and golden colour. Higher temperatures will it burn from outside and the inside will it be raw. Vice-versa, low flames make the malpuas soak in too much oil and will not get that colour and edges won’t turn crisp.

LAUKI KOFTAS

Lauki koftas is a delicious and a popular Indian curry made with bottle gourd dumplings (koftas) and simmered in onion and tomato gravy. Its originally from the times of Mughals and travelled through Arabic countries like Iran and Afghanistan. Nizam's or Mughals would generally make koftas with meat but in India there are many vegetarian versions of kofta curries. Lauki kofta curry happened to be one of those vegetarian versions of kofta curries which is relished by most.

It's a vegan and gluten-free curry easily suitable to people with such allergens. It can be served with roti, naan, paranthas or rice.

PREP TIME: 20 minutes

COOK TIME: 30 minutes

SERVES: 6-8

INGREDIENTS

For Koftas

• 1 medium Lauki (bottle gourd), peeled and grated, 4 cups roughly

• 1 green chilli, chopped

• 2 tbsp coriander, chopped

• 1 tsp ginger chopped, finely

• 3/4 cup besan or chana atta (I used half and half both)

• 1 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)

• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste

• 1/4 tsp red chilli powder

• 1 tsp coriander powder

• Oil for frying

For Gravy

• 2 red onions, roughly cut into chunks

• 1 large beef tomato

• 1” piece ginger, roughly cut

• 2-3 fat cloves garlic

• 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste

• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

• 4 tbsp oil

• 1 tbsp coriander powder

• 1 tsp salt or to tastebuds

• 1 tsp turmeric powder

• 1/4 tsp garam masala

• 1/4 tsp red chilli powder

• 1 tsp sugar

• 4-5 cups water

• Freshly chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

• 1 tsp fresh cream for garnishing

METHOD

For Koftas:

1. Place grated Lauki in Muslin cloth and squeeze all water. Reserve the water for gravy.

2. Add all the ingredients and mix them all together. Shape them into small balls.

3. Heat oil in wok and gently drop half the balls in oil and deep fry the koftas on medium high heat until golden brown.

4. Drain on absorbent paper.
   

For Gravy:

1. In a small blender, coarsely blend onion, ginger and garlic. Don’t make a fine paste.

2. Blend the tomato into a purée and keep aside.

3. Heat oil in a deep skillet pan, add cumin, sauté for few seconds, add coarsely ground onion ginger mix and chopped green chilli. Stir and roast until it turns light brown in colour. Keeping the flame on low, add salt, chilli powder, coriander powder, and turmeric, stir to mix the spices for a minute.

4. Add the blended tomato and tomato paste. Roast until the oil is separated from the onion and tomatoes masala. Now add sugar and 4-5 cups of water along with reserved lauki water, cover and let it come to a rolling boil. Check seasoning, add salt or sugar if required.

5. Add the koftas , stir and cover the lid and simmer on low fire for 15-18 minutes. Add garam masala and give a gentle stir.

6. Serve and garnish with chopped coriander and cream.

COOK'S NOTES

• Use the tender Lauki for this recipe. If the lauki has larger and thicker seeds, discard them before grating.

• I generally make this curry with just besan but I tried adding chana atta along with besan and the results were equally amazing. Hence its a tip, if you run out of besan and you have some chana atta at hand, you can easily replace it for making koftas.

• If you are vegan, skip the cream for garnishing. Instead use dairy free cream, coconut cream for garnishing or serve just as is.

• Do not discard the lauki water as it has all the nutrients. Add it to the gravy to bring more flavour.