Taaler Malpoa (Asian Palmyra Palm pancakes) by Moumita Ghosh
Moumita is a person who I met thanks to Social Media — the binding factor being love for food. Not everyone who has a site and blog (that too about food and cooking) of her own would come forward and share recipes elsewhere with generosity — Moumita is one such exception! Thank you Moumita.
Moumita Ghosh, a culinary enthusiast who maintains the food site/blog peekncook
Malpua is a very popular sweet in India. Mostly in Odisha/West Bengal/Bihar etc. There are different types of Manpua — ingredients wise and the process wise. In Odisha & West Bengal, the Malpua is dipped in sugar syrup after frying, while in Bihar, sugar is directly added to the batter. In UP, Bihar and northern part of India, Malpua is often served with Rabdi or Malai; while in Odisa and Bengal it is served soaked in sugar syrup. In Odisha, malpua is an important part of the menu of Chappan Bhog, which is served to Lord Jagannath. In Bengal, it is prepared during Janmastami to serve Lord Krishna. We Bengalis pronounce this as Malpoa. We make different types of Malpoa on Janmastami — Taal er Malpoa being the seasonal favourite.
Ingredients:
For Malpoa:
- Taal pulp 2 cups(see Taaler Bora recipe, how to take the taal pulp out of the taal)
- Maida 1 cup
- Sooji 1 cup
- Baking soda 1 decent pinch
- Whole milk 1 cup + as much as needed to make the batter
- Grated/scraped coconut 1 cup
- Crushed fennel seeds 1 tablespoon
- Green cardamom pods 2, crushed
For sugar syrup :
- Sugar 1 cup
- Water 1 cup
- Saffron strands 1 pinch
Method:
For Syrup:
- Take a saucepan and add all the ingredients under the heading of syrup and bring mixture to a boil.
- After boiling 5 minutes off the oven and let the syrup cool to the room temperature
Making Taaler Malpoa :
- Take the taal pulp, sugar, crushed fennel a in a heavy bottomed pan, mix everything and put the pan on medium heat. Keep stirring the mixture with a spatula to prevent it burning at the bottom.
- We have to evaporate the excess water of the pulp by boiling it on low heat.
- After making thick taal mixture, turn off the heat and let it cool down completely.
- In the meantime take a bowl, add maida, sooji, grated/scraped coconut, baking soda and milk, and mix everything very well, make sure there is not lump in the batter. Keep aside this batter for 30 minutes.
- When the taal mixture will be completely at room temperature, mix this with the maida & sooji mixture and make a thick pancake like batter. If the batter looks too tight, add some milk to make it pouring consistancy.
- Keep the mixture in room temperature for about 15 minutes. Then take a flat non stick pan and heat oil and pour one big spoon at a time and fry the both side till golden brown.
- Now soak each “Malpoa” into the sugar syrup at a time for 1-2 minutes and take it out from the syrup and place on a plate.
- Decorate with chopped pistachios and serve.