The Indian Festival of Colours, Holi, invites spring and makes all us Indians cheery, gleeful and exuberant bringing out the childish delight in our celebration of it. Speaking of which, this isn't the day to be wearing your Sunday best in India, despite the fact that families do have a practice of donning white to show off the colours all the more vibrantly. Holi is celebrated the day after the first full moon in March. Festivities begin the night before with a bonfire and go on the following day, with individuals smearing and splotching each other with colours in both powder and water. And then, there is the food, while many know it as the celebration of vibrant colours, traditional Holi food deserves its own festival. Food like coconuts, sweet treats, and corn is offered to the lord of fire during the bonfire. Food traditions for Holi vary all over India, but that doesn't stop us from exploring a new recipe year after year. It is incredible how food brings us together.
When it comes to Holi, we cannot imagine a Holi without the sweet, soft, layers of heaven, Malpua. Made with mawa, paneer and flour, this Indian delicacy is pastry second to none. While the customary arrangement of malpua just consists of flour and thickened milk which is fried in ghee, there are a few varieties of Malpua. Numerous preparations use mashed bananas or pineapple in the batter. More often than not, Malpuas are usually topped by adding Kesar, dry fruits, condensed milk and fresh cream.
Traditionally, Malpua is broiled in ghee and afterwards dunked in sugar syrup. Be that as it may, if you need a healthier version of this popular dessert, you can shallow fry the malpuas. Malpuas are known to be crispy outside and soft on the inside, which will melt in your mouth in a single glorious moment. Although, it is enjoyed as it is, if you need a different taste you can combine it up with rabdi too. Rabri emphasizes the flavour of this delicacy. So, if you are looking for a recipe, here's one that'll take you to cloud nine.
Ingredients For Malpua
Sugar Syrup
1 cup granulated white sugar 200 grams
3/4 cup water 6 oz/180 ml
4 green cardamoms
few saffron strands
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Malpua
1 cup all-purpose flour/Maida 132 grams
1/2 cup dry milk powder 54 grams
1/3 cup desiccated coconut powder 28 grams
1 teaspoon fennel seeds slightly crushed
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
A pinch of salt & baking powder
1.5 cups milk (warm milk) or more as needed to make the batter thick & consistent
Ghee for frying
And Nuts, for garnishing
Process To Make Malpua
For the Sugar Syrup
Make the sugar syrup by mixing 1 cup sugar with 3/4 cup water in a pan. Switch on the heat on medium, add crushed cardamom pods and saffron strands.
Let the sugar dissolve, this takes around 2-3 minutes. Once the sugar dissolves, add lemon juice and let the syrup simmer for around 3 minutes more until it becomes sticky.
Don't look for any string consistency here, simply make the syrup sticky and you will be fine. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
For the Malpua
To make the batter for the Malpua, add flour, milk powder and desiccated coconut to a large bowl.
Add crushed fennel seeds, sugar, a pinch of salt and a pinch of baking powder and mix well.
Start adding warm milk, little by little and whisk to form a smooth batter. The batter should have no lumps. It should be a thick batter of pouring consistency. If your looks very thick, add more milk to have a pouring consistency. Let the batter rest for 15 to 30 minutes.
Heat enough oil or ghee in a wide pan on medium heat. You don't need to submerge the entire malpua in oil. Pour a small ladle full of batter into the hot oil. The batter will form a round shape on its own, you don't need to shape it. I filled the pan with oil and then added 2 tablespoons ghee to it. You can fry entirely in ghee.
Lower the heat to low-medium and fry the malpua until golden brown from both sides. When you are frying one side, splash oil over the other side (which isn't dipped in oil) with a spatula so that it gets a little cooked too at the same time. Flip and then completely fry the other side.
Remove the malpua from the oil carefully, drain the oil.
Dip the malpua in prepared sugar syrup (make sure sugar syrup is warm, if it is cold just places the sugar syrup pan on low heat to warm it up before soaking the malpua). Soak each side for 30 seconds.
Remove malpua from the sugar syrup and place it on the serving plate. Garnish with nuts, edible silver leaves (optional) and serve warm.
Now while Gujiyas and Malpuas continue to remain our favourite, taking a stab at something new does no harm. So, here's something new to make for your Holi Insta-food, Gulkand Mousse, and this you cannot bear to miss on. This treat is a blend of the thandai drink and creamy mousse. It can be prepared easily at home using minimum ingredients. All you need is some fresh cream, thandai, condensed milk, and Gulkand. Gulkand is a sweet preserve that is made from rose petals. It adds an incredible flavour to the mousse and is the reason for its sapid taste. This delectable mousse will fill your heart with joy with its savouring flavours. It has a creamy velvety texture which is an absolute bliss on your taste buds.
Ingredients of Gulkand Mousse
6 Servings
500 ml fresh cream
70 gm gulkand
150 ml of milk
2 tablespoon thandai powder
100 ml condensed milk
1 tablespoon chopped pistachios
How to Make Gulkand Mousse
To make this delicious mousse, first, prepare the thandai. Add the milk and the thandai powder to the mixer and churn them together. Transfer the thandai in a glass.
Next, take a large bowl and add the condensed milk, thandai and cream to it. Whisk them together to form a smooth mixture.
Pour this mixture into small shot glasses and garnish it with gulkand and chopped pistachios.
Now, place these shot glasses in the refrigerator and let them cool down for an hour. Then, take the mousse out and serve.
Holi always calls for some appetizing and flavourful desserts. Now try these two Incredibly delectable and moreish recipes that we handpicked for you with Milky mist and its daily dose of nutrition. From being the initial ingredient to delivering the finishing touch, we make sure our products add the nutritional value you deserve. Giving your sweet tooth a Holi filling!