By Rajan Bhattacharya
October 31, 2024
Bengali Pantua is a soft, milk-based sweet that combines fresh cottage cheese with fragrant sugar syrup. Popular in Bengali sweet shops, It is a delightful fried treat that resembles an Indian doughnut but has a unique flavour.
500 ml cow’s milk 1 lemon 2 tbsp all-purpose flour 1 tbsp semolina (sooji) ½ tsp baking soda 4 tbsp milk 1 tsp ghee Ghee or oil for frying 1 cup sugar ¾ cup water 1 green cardamom pod 1 black cardamom pod
Boil the milk, then add lemon juice gradually to curdle it. Pour curdled milk into a cheesecloth over a sieve, letting whey drain.
Leave the cheese in the cheesecloth for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture.
In a pan, boil sugar and water until dissolved, then add cardamoms and stir.
Add 4 tbsp milk and 1 tsp ghee to form a soft, pliable dough. Shape the dough into 12 balls, then fry in oil or ghee over low heat until browned.
Place fried Pantuas in the sugar syrup to soak for an hour before serving. Enjoy!