Ramzan Recipe: Ganga Singh's Malpua With Pomegranate

Maharaj Ganga Singh's take on Malpua is ideal for an iftar party and will make your Ramzan more memorable.

Instead of deep-frying the dessert in ghee, it's shallow fried and served with rabdi, pomegranate arils, and slivered nuts. The pomegranate adds a special unique flavour. You can choose other fruits too.

Malpua With Pomegranate

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

• 8 tbsp maida or all-purpose flour
• 1 cup fresh cream
• Ghee, for shallow frying the malpuas
• Pinch salt

For the sugar syrup

• ½ cup sugar
• 4 tsp gulab jal or rose water
• ½ tsp kesar or saffron strands, soaked in 4 tsp milk for 1 hour
• 4 green elaichi or cardamon pods
• ½ cup water

For the garnish

• 2 tbsp slivered badam or almonds
• 2 tbsp slivered pistachios
• Dried rose petals, optional
• Pomegranate arils or seed pods
• Rabdi

Method

For the malpua

• Combine the flour, salt and the fresh cream in a bowl.
  Mix well until no lumps remain.
  Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes.

For the sugar syrup

• Combine the sugar and the ½ cup water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
  Mix well and bring to a boil over medium heat, gently stirring, for 5-7 minutes or till the sugar dissolves.
  Add the cardamon pods.
  Keeping simmering over low heat until it thickens.
  Add the rose water and take off heat.
  Stir in the saffron along with the milk it was soaked in.
  Mix.
  Cover so the syrup stays warm until the malpuas are dipped in it.

For shallow frying the malpua

• Heat a non-stick frying pan or griddle.
  Grease it lightly with ghee.
  Pour a little batter into the greased pan and spread evenly to make a small malpua.
  Cook on both the sides, using a little more ghee, till it turns golden brown.
  Take off heat and drop the malpua into the warm sugar syrup.
  Let it soak in the syrup for a few minutes.
  Drain and place on a plate.
  Repeat the process for the remaining malpuas.
  Garnish each malpua with the slivered almonds and the slivered pistachios.
  Garnish also with a few pomegranate arils and the rose petals, if you prefer.
  Add a few tbsp rabdi and serve warm.

Editor's Note: To make your own rabdi, try Pankaj Gupta's recipe.

Malpuas, for variety, can be garnished with several types of fruits -- finely chopped apples, chopped plums, chopped strawberries, chopped mangoes, blueberries, lemon juice, chopped dates, chopped dried figs.

You can also opt to add mashed bananas or mashed mangoes or pureed pineapple to the malpua batter and reduce the cream a tad. A little grated coconut also adds additional flavour, either on top or in the batter.

A pinch of crushed sonf or fennel seeds can be added to the batter. And slivered cashews can be used for garnish as well.

For less sweet malpuas, skip the soaking in sugar syrup process and garnish with grated jaggery or date gud or a little honey, powdered green cardamom, saffron strands and fruit.

For healthier malpuas, swap maida for oat flour or ragi.

For vegan malpuas, replace the cream with ¾ cup oat milk and use coconut oil instead of ghee. Soak the saffron in warm water instead of milk.

Maharaj Ganga Singh is the chef at Rasotsav, a vegetarian restaurant serving Rajasthani and Gujarati food in Andheri, north west Mumbai.