Malpua Recipe (With Milk Powder)

Crispy and fluffy malpua is an indian dessert of pancakes made with milk powder, milk, flour, yogurt, sugar and fragrant spices.

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings malpua

Taste and aroma of fresh cardamom powder is unmatched! Add seeds from green cardamom pods to a mortar along with 1 black peppercorn and using a pestle, pound to a coarse powder.
In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients- flour, semolina, milk powder, baking soda, fennel seeds, cardamom & black pepper powder, pinch of salt, and desiccated coconut. Add yogurt and then gradually pour water while whisking to make a smooth batter. The batter should have a pouring consistency similar to a pancake batter. Set aside the batter to rest for about 20-30 minutes.
When you are about to fry the malpua, 8-10 minutes prior to it, start making the sugar syrup. This is becasue we want to soak malpua in warm syrup.
In a wide shallow pan(I use a 12 inch or 14 inch pan so that I can soak the malpua right in the pan), combine sugar, water and 1-2 pounded green cardamom pods. Heat up over medium heat until the sugar completely dissolves.
Let simmer for a few more minutes until it forms a slightly sticky syrup or reaches a 1 string consistency. You can add a few drops of lemon juice to prevent crystallization. Keep the syrup warm.

Once the batter has rested, it might thicken up. Adjust the consistency of the batter by adding more water if it's too thick. In case batter is thin, add milk powder.
Set the ghee to warm up in a shallow pan. Since I did not want to use too much ghee, I used an 8 inch pan for frying. It took longer to fry the malpuas one by one (I made 6 -7 malpua). Not going to recommend it if you are making a large batch of malpua.
Pour a small ladleful of batter into the hot ghee pan to form a pancake-like shape. I recommend approximately 4 to 5 tablespoons of batter per malpua. You can make them as big or small as you like. I make them about 3 inch. Here, keep in mind about thickness also, you don't want to make them too thin (else they wont become fluffy, just cripsy). If you make them thick, chances are that the malpua won't cook properly in the center.
Fry the malpuas until they are golden brown on both sides, carefully, flipping them once (small tongs or a brownie spatula works great). It usually takes about 2-3 minutes on each side.
Pick up the fried malpua and drain the excess ghee on a paper towels. Immediately, while they are still hot, soak them in warm sugar syrup. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.
Serve hot malpuas garnished with silvered pistachios, few saffron strands and edible rose petals. Don't forget a bowl of creamy rabdi on the side!

RECIPE TIPS

Your malpua might not turn out perfect texture or shape the first few times. Dont give up or get frustated. Keep trying, indian mithai is an art and takes practice and patience to master.
When you are pouring the batter, gently swirl your wrist or hand to make a neat round shape. This takes a little practice but easily mastered.
If you see that your malpua are puffing up like poori, that means that the batter is thick, thin out the thick batter slightly.
Make sure that ghee temperature is neither too low nor too high. At high temperature, the batter will splatter as soon as you pour it in the ghee.
Lastly, after flipping, some of the batter might run out and spoil the circular shape of the puas. Happened with me as well (see image in post) Not to worry, once you have fried the malpuas, simply snip out those pointy wanted edges using kitchen scissors.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!