Malpua is a traditional dessert from Odisha, an eastern state of India. Even though the preparation method of Malpua varies from Odisha to Rajasthan.., my favorite is always the one that I grew up eating in Odisha. My mom would make a batter of mashed banana, whole wheat flour, sugar and paan mahuri and then deep fry them in piping hot oil.
In this Chenna Malpua recipe, I have used homemade paneer or chenna instead of ripe bananas as traditionally used in Odisha. Also, Instead of deep frying the Chhena Malpuas, I have pan fried them and lightly soaked them with saffron flavored sugar syrup and then garnished them heavily with crushed almonds, pistachios, and cardamom.
Fall kicks off few of the most awaited festivals – Durga Puja, Diwali, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Now you tell me, do you need another reason to get excited about Fall?
These Chhena Malpuas are lighter in taste and don’t feel so heavy since they are not made with mawa or condensed milk. For my non-Indian friends, Malpuas are nothing but Vegetarian mini pancakes – deep fried until light golden color and then soaked in a flavored sugar syrup. Delicious.
So, let’s kick off these season of festivals and parties with this delicious Chhena Malpuas. Yum.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup or 200-gram chenna or fresh homemade paneer. Click here to see how to make paneer at home.
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or maida 100 gram
- 1/4 cup semolina or sooji
- 1 cup or 100 ml milk
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp saffron
METHOD:
- Mix milk and semolina/sooji and let it rest for 15 mins
- Blend flour and chhena well. You can mix it well with a spoon as well. Add some milk if needed
- Now mix the semolina mixture with chhena mixture until smooth. There shouldn’t be any lumps
- Add cardamom powder, baking powder and salt to the batter
- The batter should be thick yet in a pouring consistency. Let the batter rest while you prepare the sugar syrup
- Boil sugar and water till sugar dissolves. Once sugar dissolves, reduce the heat to medium and heat for 5 more minutes. It shouldn’t be very thick. Add some cardamom powder and saffron to the syrup.
- Heat a nonstick pan and brush some ghee.
- Once the syrup and dough are ready, heat enough oil in a pan to deep fry the malpuas. Make sure the oil is medium hot or else, the malpuas with burn as soon you drop them.
- Drop about a tablespoon of the batter into it and cook until lightly brown on both sides. Once done, dip it immediately in the hot syrup and allow it to float.
- Once all the malpuas are ready, keep them floating in the sugar syrup. If you are not serving it immediately, refrigerate it. And before serving, heat it in the microwave. It tastes best when it’s warm.
Notes
While making chhena/fresh paneer, make sure the milk is not too hot or else, it might not curdle. Also, while heating the milk, keep stirring in between to avoid it from getting burnt at the bottom.
PIN for Later:
This looks so good and interesting! I love trying out new foods! 🙂
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Looks great and so fancy too! Almost too good to eat!
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Looks so great and tempting! ❤
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Sounds lovely. 😊 I’ll have to try making it.
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Wow! This looks stunning & tempting!
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so so delish and your photos inspire me to up my food photography skills sooner
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Thank you so much. Let me know if you need any help.
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