When it comes to desserts like malpua it’s almost hard to refuse it. It’s decadently fluffy with a light crisp on the edges. Some would assume it for a distant relative of the flap jack as it’s called in South Africa and pancakes in the UK and America.
Unlike the flapjack or pancake, malpua has a delightful cardamom and fennel flavor. However, all these desserts share the love of syrup.
Without further ado, carry on reading for more on malpua and how you could make them.
The Historical Foundations of Malpua
Malpua traces its roots to over 3000 years ago when ancient Vedic scripts make mention of the dessert called “apupa” which is said to be some of the earliest types of malpua the way we know and love it today.
Even back then, the malpua or “apupa” as it was known, was also coated in the sweet syrup and previously deep fried before the sugar syrup coating. During those times, the ancient Aryans also used barley in many foods. Barley was processed to create flour for cooking and baking.
Malpua Today
Malpua is shared and enjoyed by families all across India and is very much part of every festival celebration. Even as a breakfast during the festival of lights, some families have their malpua cooked and ready to enjoy.
There is also another version of pua known as “humble pua”. The humble pua is one that calls for less prep and cook time while only having the likes of a sugary syrup to dunk the fried pua and, after that, drizzle it with nuts. The humble pua is often served with sweetened or a thick milk. The combination is big on sugar and if you’ve been starving your sweet tooth, pua of the humble version will probably knock its socks off.
Malpua is the detailed “bedazzled” version of the humble pua. Either way, they are both delicious and worthy of having at every festival and celebration as some of the best foods.
Here’s How To Make Malpua
The malpua recipe, like most recipes, have many variations and people often tweak foods to suit their dietary needs. Whether it’s adding more nutritious ingredients, or reducing oils or salt, variations and modifications to the malpua recipe are also pretty common.
What you’ll need:
For the syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 4 Green cardamoms
- Saffron
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
For the malpua
- 1 cup of flour (maida)
- 1/2 cup dry milk powder
- 1/3 cup coconut powder
- 1 tsp crushed fennel seeds
- 1 tablsp sugar
- 1 pinch of baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1.5 cup warm milk
- Oil/ghee to fry
- Nuts for the topping
Method – Syrup
- You’ll start off with the syrup in a pan. Mix the water and the sugar to create a thick syrup consistancy.
- Crush the cardamom and saffron.
- Allow all the sugar to dissolve and once dissolved, add the lemon juice and let it sit for another 3 minutes.
- Set the syrup pan aside and off the heat.
Method – Malpua
- In a bowl pour in the coconut, flour and milk powder.
- Add the fennel seeds, sugar, salt and the baking powder.
- Add the warm milk and whisk it in bit by bit to form a smooth consistancy that is easy to pour.
- Rest the batter for 30 minutes
- Heat the oil and once the oil is ready pour small ladle of batter into the oil. You’ll notice the batter will become a disk-like shape on its own with the heat and this is what you want.
- You’ll flip the pua in the oil and fry it until they are golden brown
- Remove and drain the pua on a paper towel.
- Dunk the malpuas in the sugar syrup.
Note: If the syrup is cold, you can just re-heat it on low heat.
- Soak the malpua for about 30 seconds
- After the sugar dip, sprinkle the nuts over it or seeds, if you prefer.
Malpua should be served immediately while they are warm and extra tasty.
Tips To Make Your Malpua Good
- Mixing the batter can really change the contents that form it. It’s important to let the batter rest for 30 minutes or so after all the mixing.
- Choose medium to low heat to fry your malpua.
- Malpua is tasty as is, but add some fennel and cardamom to give it flavor kick.
- The key to the perfect malpua is that the inside parts are fluffy and soft while the edges manage to have a crispy touch to it.
- If you want the batter to be even softer, add a bit of banana or yoghurt.
Nutrition Estimates
Malpua is a very sweet treat and not something people opt to eat every day. Still, as a sweet treat for a festival or other special occasion or just as a once a while snack, malpua is great.
- Calories 216kcal
- Fat 3g
- Sodium 58mg
- Sugar 29g
- Calcium 143mg
- Carbohydrates 41g
- Saturated fat 2g
- Potassium 233g
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Iron
- Protein 5g
- Cholesterol 5g
- Fiber 1g
The above is only an estimated nutritional outline for this easy malpua recipe. As always, recipes are modified to suit various dietary needs and with that, the nutritional value also changes.
Furthermore, the prep time for the malpua recipe is 40 minutes, 20 minutes to cook and a total time of one hour. The above malpua mixture can serve about 8 people. Based on this estimate, you can simply make or double your batch to cater for more people and without having to keep leftovers.
You could make some changes to the quantities according to what you need for your guests or gifts, for that matter.
Malpua Variations
Banana malpua
The banana version of malpua is exactly the same as the rest with the only difference being the added banana into the batter. Mashed banana will be added to the flour, milk, cardamom and baking powder.
A bit healthier than the rest version
For the healthier version, you’re going to do the substitute trick. Swap out sugar for jaggery and the all-purpose flour for a whole wheat version. You can also use atta. You can also shallow fry the malpuas in this one.
FAQ
There are egg varients of malpua, but this dessert is mostly made without egg.
Usually, malpua won’t be hard, but if you set them in the refrigerator, they will become chewy. We prefer serving malpua immediately while they are at least warm.
Since they’re best eaten immediately, making smaller amounts will prevent having to store them. However, you can store the batter in the refrigerator for about three days for the most.
The calories depend on how much of the ingredients are in the malpua. If you made the recipe mentioned in this post, then the calories are an estimate of 216kcal per serving.
Malpua is best served right away while they’re still hot. Eating them cold will reduce them to an awful chewy texture.
Conclusion Tor Making Malpua
If you’ve only ever had store-bought malpua, we’re sure that after you’ve made your first homemade malpua recipe batch at home, you’ll never want to go back to store bought versions. Plus, making the malpua treat yourself means you can tweak it as you like and have it from super-fresh.
Impress your family and friends with this tasty malpua treat next time and tell us how your first batch was.
