Amongst the many examples of cuisines drawing parallels between dishes, the crepe and the malpua seem to have many things in common. For one, these lacy flat discs demand a good dunking in some sweet, syrupy sauce; both, the crepes and malpua taste best when eaten warm and are not too overpowering in sweetness. For a crepe Suzette, silky, thin crepes are doused with an orange-butter-brandy sauce whereas a malpua is deep-fried and dunked into a vat of sugar syrup spiked with saffron.
This recipe for Malpua Suzette combines the best of both worlds in a way where the flavours of fennel and saffron from the Malpua blend rather seamlessly with the beurre Suzette. Crispy-edged, lacy malpuas in a rich orange-butter sauce and topped off with whipped cream or berries; just the thought of them makes it so tempting to try! A part of the crepe Suzette experience is how theatrical the dish is, before it is served, as it is flambéd right before it is served. Of course, this is done by people who are trained to imbibe this particular skill and you could feel free to avoid burning your hands and simply allow most of the alcohol to evaporate on a low heat, before you pour it over the malpua.
Recipe:
Ingredients [For the malpua]
- 1.5 cups warm milk
- ½ cup grated khoya
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon raw sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 pinch salt
- Ghee for frying
Image Credits: GuteKueche
Ingredients [For the syrup]
- 100 grams butter
- 100 grams castor sugar
- 150 ml fresh orange juice
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 7-8 strands saffron
- 3 tablespoon Grand Marnier
- 2 tablespoon cognac
Method
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- Mix all the ingredients for the malpua in a large bowl and set it aside for 15-20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan, until the sugar dissolves completely before slowly pouring in the orange juice, on a low heat.
- Be cautious as to not pour the juice into the butter when it’s still bubbling in order to avoid the butter spluttering all over the place.
- Take off the heat once the mixture turns glossy and add the orange zest, saffron and cardamom powder to combine.
- Heat some ghee in a frying pan and pour the resting malpua batter by the ladleful and spread all over. Cook for a minute or two on each side, until it starts to brown on the edges and fold into fours before arranging on a serving platter.
- Add the alcohol to the beurre sauce right before serving and cook it down on a low heat, until most of the alcohol evaporates.
- Alternately, you could flambé the sauce using a lighter or matchstick and pour generously over the malpua, as well as serve more on the side, with lightly whipped cream.