“Balushahi” by Shruti Kishore Sahi

Picture Credit: Shruti Kishore Sahi

Ingredients for Dough

Considering 1 cup to be 250 ml, given below are the quantities:

1. 1.5 cups or 375 gm of maida or plain flour or refined flour or all-purpose flour
2. Half teaspoon of sugar
3. Half teaspoon of baking powder
4. Water as required. An approximation would be one-fourth cup. 
5. 50 gm of ghee or clarified butter
6. One-fourth cup or 65 gm of curd or yoghurt
7. Oil for deep frying

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Making Dough

Firstly, take 1.5 cups of maida in a large mixing bowl before adding half teaspoon of sugar & half teaspoon of baking powder and mixing them well.
 
Now add 50 gm of ghee or clarified butter and crumble the mixture before adding one-fourth cup or 65 gm of curd or yoghurt and start mixing again.
 
Now, add one-fourth cup of water to make the dough without kneading. When it’s done, cover it with a moist cloth and let it rest for 15 minutes. After the completion of 15 minutes, slightly knead the dough and pinch the dough to make small balls.

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Ingredients for Sugar syrup

1. 1 cup or 250 gm of sugar.
   
2. Half cup of water.
   
3. A couple of saffron threads or Kesar.
   
4. One-fourth teaspoon of cardamom powder or Elachi powder.
   

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Making Sugar syrup

Add one cup of sugar and half a cup of water to make the sugar syrup of Balushahi. Boil the water and mix until the sugar dissolves. When the syrup is almost ready, add a few saffron strands and one-fourth teaspoon of cardamom powder before boiling it for five last minutes; remove from the heat to cover.

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Process

Take the small dough balls and make a dent at their centre with the help of your thumb before deep frying them in medium hot oil on low flame until they turn golden brown and crisp.
 
When the dough balls turn golden-brown, pull them from the oil and drop them into warm sugar syrup immediately. Just ensure that they are coated with sugar syrup and are soaked for at least five minutes.
 
After they are soaked, they can be served garnished with chopped cashews.

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Suggestions

To make a perfect flaky Balushahi recipe, please take care of these points.

1. Kneading the dough light is very critical for this recipe. So make sure to not knead the dough intensely but rather just to combine. 
2. While frying the Balushahi, make sure the flame is in low heat. Using ghee instead of oil for deep frying is preferable for taste. 
3. The consistency of sugar syrup defines the texture of Balushahi. It can either be made thin like Gulab Jamun’s syrup or as hard crystallised thereby forming a thick layer on top of Balushahi.

Team

1. Contributor:
   Shruti Kishore Sahi​
   
   
2. Editor:
   Rajiv R Nair
   ​
3. Photographer:
   Shruti Kishore Sahi

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