Recipe- Popular Indian Sweet Balushahi

Balushahi is one of the most popular sweet dishes in Indian sub continent. You have definitely noticed this sweet food at many sweet shops in Northern Indian states. Is it not true? It is a flour made deep fried item dipped in sugar syrup. This sweet item is often garnished with dry fruits. It is a very special sweet to me and like many others I love this Balushahi sweet dish a lot.

Ingredients

For making dough

1.5 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup ghee (or less)
Pinches of baking powder
Pinches of salt
Water as needed
½ cup Refined oil (for deep frying)

For making sugar syrup

⅔ cup sugar
½ cup water
2 cardamoms, whole
8-10 sticks saffron
1 teaspoon lemon juice, optional

For garnishing

A few fine pieces of cashew nuts/ pistachio/almond/raisins etc

Method

Dough preparation

- Mix all purpose flour, ghee, baking powder & salt properly

- Now add water and try to make dough but it should not be soft, add little more water if ti is too hard (do not press the dough forcefully with your palm rather try to pull that dough from both side with your hands and make two parts then combine again, repeat it again & again)

- Spread ghee over the dough and rest it for atleast 30 mins

Sugar syrup preparation

- Boil water and then add roughly mashed cardamoms and wait for 30 seconds

- Now pour sugar and stir it continuously till sugar dissolved in water completely

- Add saffron & lemon juice and boil till sugar syrup becomes sticky (spread a few drops of syrup on a plate and incline it at 45 degree angle & check whether those drop are still sticky)

- Now keep that syrup in a separate bowl

Balushahi preparation

- Make 12-13 small balls with that flour made dough and keep one of those balls on your palm and press with another hand to flatten that ball

- Press in the middle of that with your fingers from both sides to make holes

- Now heat enough oil in cooking pot (kadai) and cook those over low flame till both sides of those balushahi turns into light brown

- Now put those fried stuff into that sugar syrup for atleast 1 hour or more

- Serve those hot or at normal temperature (garnish those with any nuts of your choice).