Why confine ourselves to baking cakes and pastries, when there’s so much more comforting that can be made with eggs, milk and flour and sugar? Yes, the same ingredients that go into making a nice fluffy cake can also yield an eye-grabbing and mouth-watering desi Minara Masjid Malpuas. These Malpuas come from the busy streets of Mumbai, where a simple and smooth batter of sweetened milk, refined flour, eggs, cardamom powder, food colour and baking powder yields a super soft and luscious Malpua. The batter gives better and tastier results when fermented for 2-3 hours and then fried in ghee and topped with thick rabdi.
Brief History Of Malpuas
The Malpuas have been mentioned for the first time in Rigveda, some 5000 years ago by the name Apupa. In this era, Appua is found to have been eaten by Aryans using barley flour which was kneaded to make flat cakes which were then fried in ghee and dipped in honey before serving.
Short Story Of Minara Masjid Delicacies
In the Muhammad Ali Road of Mumbai, near Minara Masjid people flock in huge numbers during Ramzan for buying and devouring sweet delicacies sold at this location. Among these, the special Malpua is the star dessert loved by everyone. So much so that the dish has got an unofficial name after the place where it was first made and sold and is still sold.
What Do Eggs Do To The Batter?
Those who like to eat eggs and cakes and pastries, know very well how critical eggs are. Eggs are not only great for giving a fulsome appearance and fluffy taste to the baked items but also give structure and stability to the batter of all the other sweet food items, by thickening and emulsifying other ingredients with it. Besides, eggs are needed to give moisture, glaze and stickiness to these sweet dishes.
Preparation: 2 hours 30 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes
Servings: 4 Malpuas
Ingredients:
- 1 cup refined flour
- 1 cup milk
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp food colour
Method:
- In a pan pour milk and add sugar to it, and heat it until sugar melts and dissolves in the milk. Turn off the flame and keep the milk aside to cool.
- In another bowl, add refined flour, baking powder, food colour and cardamom powder and mix well.
- Then incorporate the eggs and beat them into a batter.
- Now add milk little by little to this mixture and whip it continuously until there is no lump and the batter becomes smooth. Let this batter ferment for 2-3 hours.
- After fermentation, heat ghee in a pan.
- Pour ladles of batter and fry them until golden on both sides.
- Take out and serve.
If you wish to eat Malpua with rabdi which is already sweet, then take a quarter cup of sugar, or else use 1 cup of sugar. And yes, egg-allergic people need not cringe as curd can be used as an alternative for eggs.