This blog was started to keep a record of my mum’s delicious cooking. One of her popular dishes was malpuas. I use the word popular because
there were some diehard fans of her malpuas; these fans would drop all their dietary restrictions just to eat her
delicious malpuas. Why were her malpuas so popular? Well the answer is simple —
they would just melt in the mouth.
I had watched my mum make the malpuas but I had never had the guts to make them myself, circumstances compelled me to try my hand. What were those circumstances? It so happened that we were once having lunch at one of Oh! Calcutta’s Mumbai outlets. After finishing our lunch when we were about to settle the bill we found we were over charged. The restaurant manager in order to make amends offered us complementary malpuas. The malpuas were so stiff and rubbery that I decided to go right ahead and make malpuas myself. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I got it right and they did turn out like my mum’s – they were melt in the mouth.
Malpuas are a must have sweet during certain festivals, but why wait for a festival to indulge your sweet tooth? Just go right ahead and make them now, it is
quite simple. Below is the video of the dish and below that is the detailed
recipe.
If the above video does not play then please click on this URL https://youtu.be/psjhC60ZFVg
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
- Approximately 4 to 4 ½ tablespoons of maida (white flour)
- 500ml milk. It is better to use full cream milk, because it is tastier, I used low fat milk as I am watching my calories.
- A few raisins.
- Sugar according to your taste
- Some strands of saffron and almond flakes (optional)
Method:
Soak raisins in warm water. This will not only wash off the
dirt but the raisins will also swell up.
Make sugar syrup by dissolving the required quantity of
sugar in hot water. While the quantity of sugar depends on your personal taste,
the consistency of the syrup should not be too thick or too thin. Add a few strands of saffron for added
flavor. The saffron is of course optional.
Boil the milk and reduce it to about 200mls.
Add the raisins to the reduced milk.
Add the maida to the reduced milk. Add one tablespoon at a
time so that lumps are not formed. I added approximately 4 ½ tablespoons of
maida. The batter should be of dripping consistency; however the best way to
check whether you have got the consistency right is to drop a small portion in
hot oil. If this little portion does not stick to the sides and you are able to
fry it easily then rest assured you have got the consistency right.
Having assured yourself of the batter's consistency, you can
now start frying the malpuas. Scoop out a ladle full of the batter and drop it
in the hot oil (if the oil is sufficiently hot you can reduce the flame while you
are frying). Once the malpua puffs up like a puri, flip it over to the other
side, once it is nicely browned drop it into the sugar syrup.
Fry the remaining malpuas and allow them to soak in the
sugar syrup for some time.
Please note if your malpuas puff up like puris, they will
be soft and will melt in your mouth.
Garnish with almond flakes and some more strands of saffron (this is optional).
Serve hot.
Tip
It is always better to serve warm if not hot malpuas. So
before serving, either warm them in a microwave or in a steamer.
The Oh! Calcutta malpuas sound like my mum-in-law's. ;-) Every time we invite my in-laws home for lunch, she insists on making and bringing along malpuas and kheer, and while her kheer isn't bad (it's not anywhere as good as my mother's), her malpuas are invariably chewy and rubbery.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this recipe, Shilpi! I intend to try these out sometime.
P.S. You've not mentioned raisins in the list of ingredients - you might want to correct that.
Oops! missed the raisins. Thanks for pointing it out to me. You know Madhu who was the biggest fan of mum's malpuas, Talat Uncle, nothing could stop him from relishing mum's malpuas. He would take a break from his dietary restrictions to eat them.
DeleteYes! I remember you mentioning that Talat Mahmood loved your Ma's malpuas. No wonder he had such a sweet voice. :-)
ReplyDeleteHA!HA! Unfortunately by the time my parents and Talat Uncle and Aunty became friends (this was around the time of Sujata), he hardly sang in any films.
DeleteI remember the last time he came to our house (a few years before he passed away), he was not in the best of health and the doctor had asked him to maintain a strict diet. He was however allowed to indulge once in a way. That day he did indulge, I remember when mum asked him would he like to have some more malpuas? He very, very sweetly said, "just give me one more". I still remember his wife smiling, allowing him this indulgence.
I will always remember that evening, a sweet memory indeed.
That's a lovely little anecdote, Shilpi. :-) So sweet.
ReplyDeleteYes,isn't it?
DeleteYour recipe does sound true to the name of your blog - cooking made simple! I must try this. I also thouroughly enjoyed the Foodie Joints and of course - the memories associated with the very talented and distinguished Tarun Bose! Great going...
ReplyDeleteThank you very much.
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