There’s nothing like enjoying piping hot malpuas dipped in sweet chashni, am I right? You need to add these almost instant mawa malpua to your list of Holi recipes to try this season!
If you haven’t tried Malpua before, let me have the pleasure of introducing them to you. This Indian sweet is essentially fried pancakes soaked in sugar syrup – served piping hot. It’s got crisp edges and a soft centre that just melts in your mouth. Yes please!
If you have tried Malpua before, then you’d know what I mean when I say this dessert is just something else! But making it can be a lengthy process – it’s generally made with rabri, which in itself takes a couple hours (and lots of patience!) to make. So, when I want to whip up some fresh malpua at home, I make this shortcut version that I swear by – mawa or khoya malpua.
Ingredients You'll Need to Make Malpua
- Mawa (Khoya) – The star of this mawa/khoya malpua recipe. I get mine from Amul
- Milk – To combine with our mawa. I use full cream milk for this
- All Purpose Flour (Maida) – This forms the base of our batter and stays consistent across all malpua recipes
- Salt and Sugar – Just a pinch
- Semolina – This is optional, I add just a teaspoon to get those crispy edges of malpua
- Fennel Seeds/Cardamom (Crushed) – To spice the batter. These adds that signature taste – don’t skip this (although you can adjust the quantities and proportion to your liking)
- Ghee – I recommend using ghee to fry the malpuas (this makes them taste really delicious and indulgent) but you could use oil
- Chashni – I make this with sugar, water, and a few strands of saffron
How to Make Khoya or Mawa Malpua
- INSTANT RABRI - Mixing mawa (khoya) with milk creates a similar consistency to rabri, which works perfectly in our malpua batter.
- BATTER - Add in flour, crushed fennel seeds, and a little sugar to your instant rabdi and then whisk this batter really well. The whisking is key! We want to whisk until we have a medium-thick flowing batter (a lot like lassi) without any lumps.
- FERMENTATION - Let the batter rest and ferment for 2-3 hours at room temperature. This creates a beautiful taste and also gives the malpua a lacy, crispy texture all while saving you the hands-on effort that a traditional malpua recipe would require. If not, let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes before frying.
- SUGAR SYRUP (CHASHNI) - Make the sugar syrup by heating sugar and water together, stirring until the sugar dissolves. While making sugar syrup, you can add a few drops of fresh lime juice to it. This prevents the sugar syrup from crystallising. Add saffron threads for flavour, and simmer it for just 2-3 minutes. The consistency should be thin and watery. If it's too thick, it’ll make the malpuas too heavy and can also form a thick layer that solidifies
- DEEP-FRYING + SUGAR SOAK Deep fry individual ladles of the batter in some ghee and dip them in the chashni and your indulgent festive dessert is ready.
It’s not a Holi morning in our home without a fresh batch of malpua made and served! And it’s how I always know that it’s going to be a great day 🙂
You’ve just got to give it a try!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, these can be made in advance and stored – although I wouldn’t recommend it! Malpuas are best served hot and fresh. You can also make the batter a night in advance but note that it may end up tasting a bit more sour due to the longer fermentation time.
Malpua gets chewy once refrigerated. To make sure they’re crisp and gooey, serve them fresh out of the pan.
If your malpua sticks to the pan, it means that your ghee/oil isn’t hot enough. You can do a test with a pea-sized portion of the batter to check if the oil is hot enough (you’ll see bubbles form on the surface and it should float to the top) before adding the batter.
Once you start making these mawa/khoya malpuas at home, there’s no going back. I’d love to see your recreations of this for your Holi festivities – send me photos over on my Instagram @my_foodstory and let’s welcome this vibrant season together!
If you’re looking for more such festive recipes, check out my round up of 50+ FUN Holi recipes.
Watch the Recipe Video
Malpua
Ingredients
For Malpua Batter
- ¼ cup Mawa Khoya, 67 grams
- ½ cup Maida All Purpose Flour, 65 grams
- 1 teaspoon Sooji Semolina - optional
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons Milk
- ¼ teaspoon Fennel seeds crushed
- Ghee for Deep Frying
For Sugar Syrup
- ½ Cup Sugar
- ½ Cup Water
- 4-5 strands Saffron
Instructions
For Malpua Batter
- Crumble or grate mawa if it's like a block.
- In a mixing bowl, add mawa and milk and whisk it well until it's almost smooth. Add maida, semolina, and the rest of the milk, and mix well to make a smooth batter. Ensure there are no lumps in the batter. Beat the batter for 5 minutes with a whisk or fork. You can also use a hand blender.
- Rest the batter for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
- Add salt, sugar, and crushed fennel seeds and beat the batter again for 1-2 minutes. The batter should be the consistency of lassi or condensed milk. A very thick batter will make the malpuas too dense and fat.
For Sugar Syrup
- In a pan, add sugar and water and bring it to a quick boil. Add saffron strands and let this simmer for 2-3 minutes. The chashni or sugar syrup should not be thick and should be like the consistency of oil.
- To prevent the syrup from crystallizing, add a few drops of lemon juice to the syrup. If the syrup gets thick, mix a teaspoon or two of water to adjust the consistency again.
Cooking Malpua
- Heat 1 ½ inch deep ghee in a thick-bottomed frying pan or skillet. It's important to use a flat pan - a kadhai or wok will not work.
- Give the batter a quick whisk before each malpua and pour ⅛ cup or 2 tablespoons of the batter into the ghee without spreading it. The batter will spread by itself into a round shape. Lower the heat and you will see in a minute that the Malpua starts to float.
- Fry the malpua on low heat. When one side is light golden, gently turn over and fry the second side until light golden. Fry until both sides are golden, flipping malpua as needed for a couple of times.
- Transfer the malpua immediately to the sugar syrup. Soak them in sugar syrup for 1-2 minutes.
- Immediately remove them onto a serving tray. Prepare the rest of the malpuas in the same manner. You can also serve these with rabdi and garnish with almonds & pistachios.
Video
Notes
- Mawa or Khoya is made of either dried whole milk or milk thickened by heating it slowly in an open iron pan. Easily available in grocery stores across India and Indian Grocery stores for those living outside India.
- I love adding sooji to the batter as it makes them crispy. It's not traditional and totally optional.
- It's important to rest the batter for at least 30 minutes before frying.
- It’s important to use a thick-bottomed flat pan or skillet for deep frying the Malpuas so that they spread out while frying.
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