Malpua

Although different versions of Malpua is found in homes and sweet shops all across India but genuine Malpua is Mithila Cuisine. This is of dry variety where the sugar is added to the batter itself instead of soaking it separately in sugar syrup. The Jatakas (legends on the Buddha’s previous lives) mention pua (prepared from the mixture of powdered rice, milk, sugar, ghee, or clarified butter, and honey), besides pitta (rice cake), khajjaka (also known as khaja), palala (modern day tilkuta made from pounded tila, or sesame seeds).

Material Required (Serving 4-5 people)

Maida(Refined Wheat) – 2 Cups
Milk – About 1 cup to make the batter
Sugar – 4 Tablespoons
Banana (Ripe) – 1 Number
Saunf – 1 Teaspoon
Cardamom – 3-4 Pieces
Dry Fruit (Dry coconut,Dry dates, raisins, almond and cashew-All grated together) – 2 Tablespoon

Preparation Steps: 1.Make a smooth batter with Maida, banana pulp, milk, cardamom pods and powder, whole saunf, sugar, milk and water.
2. Beat well with your hands till the batter becomes light and fluffy.
3. Add the grated dry fruits in the batter and mix thoroughly
4. Cover and leave aside for an hour or more for a bit of fermentation.
5. Now whip well with your hands, adding water if required, to get a smooth batter of pouring consistency,
6. Deep-fry in pure ghee till it begins turning brown, soft and cooked.
Take out the fried pua , drain excess ghee. Deep fry other pancakes as well and it is ready to be served.

Things to take care of:

1.Prepare the batter carefully. It should have enough fuildity but at the same time should be thick enough to set.
2. Start deep frying only after the ghee is completely warmed up. Test this by placing a pinch of batter and see whether it fries with a deep hissing sound.
3. Do not overfry, else all the effort put will go a waste.