Badhusha - Soft and Flaky

Badhushas are very famous Indian sweets and is my favourite too. It is a soft, flaky and layered sweet. I love them very much and can't resist them. They are mildly sweet. I make them for every Diwali since last 4 years and nowadays more often.  It is made using maida dough which is fried in ghee and then dipped in sugar syrup and dried.  The perfecion of the Badhusha is obtained when you get a very soft and a very flaky Badhusha.  Believe me it is not at all difficult to make these delicious sweet. The thing is that you have to be very exact in your measurements and the method to the "T". I found the original recipe here in Raks Kitchen. And it is a never let down recipe. Sowmya of Nivedhanams is hosting the Tried & Tasted event this month. And Raks Kitchen is the blog being tried and tasted. So I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Rajee for this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients

For the Badhusha

Maida - 3 cups
Butter - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 t.sp
Curd - 3 t.sp
Cooking Soda / Sodium Bi Carbonate - 3  pinches (1/2 t.sp)
Water - 1/2 cup (approx.)
Oil - for deep frying

For the Syrup

Sugar - 1 cup
Water - just to immerse the sugar
Elaichi - 2 pinches (optional)
Saffron - a pinch (Optional)
Lemon Juice - 1 t.sp

Method

 Melt butter in a pan.








Add oil






Add sugar, curd and sodium-bi-carbonate to it.






Use a whisk and mix it well. Make it almost frothy.







Add the flour to it.

Mix well to make it crumbly.




Add water to make it in the form of a dough.  Be careful while adding water, about 1/4th cup of water is enough, add water little by little form it into a smooth dough.



Keep kneading for another 10 minutes to get smooth shiny, soft and pliable dough.  Knead till you get the smooth texture. Do not cut short this process.



Make small lemon sized balls of equal size.  Now take a ball and keep on pinching the edges and folding it inwards. And go on doing this in a round fashion. So that you get the beautifully decorated rims.

Otherwise just flatten the smooth ball a little between your palms and press in the center with your finger, to form a small depression.  But I never do this, I always like doing the decorated rim. Finish all shaping all the balls and keep them covered.






Meanwhile add sugar to a pan and just add water to immerse it.  Stri till the sugar dissolves and starts boiling.  At this point add about a tb.sp of Milk.  This helps in removing the impurities in the sugar.


Then boil the sugar solution to reach one string consistency.  That is if you pour it in little water it should not dissolve and should form a fine thread.  Put off the flame once the right consistency is achieved.  Add saffron if desired and then add the juice from the lemon. Add powdered Elaichi if needed. I mostly don't add elaichi to Badhushas.




Heat oil in a kadai.  Check whether the oil has heated up well. To do this add a pinch of batter into the oil, if it rises immediately, then its ok.  Do not let the oil heat up too much.




Add some 4 to 5 badushas depending upon the size of the kadai, into the oil.  Put off the fire or remove from fire and let them cooked in this pre-heated oil.


After sometime (about 5 minutes) the Badushas will start floating, then again keep the kadai on fire and cook on medium-low flame till the badhushas turn into beautiful golden colour.

Remove them into a strainer and let the excess oil drain off for about a minute. Then put these hot badhushas in the sugar syrup.  If they don't get fully soaked inside the sugar syrup then pour some syrup over the badhushas with the help of a ladle. Let them remain there for about 3 to 4 minutes.  Till then you can prepare the next set of badhushas.

Transfer the badhushas from the syrup to a plate or to an aluminium foil. Place it one by one. And not, one top of the other.  Let it dry for sometime. Once it dries then it becomes non-sticky.  Transfer it to a clean container. I personally like to eat it after some hours, or better the next day. So that the badhushas soak the syrup inside them and then they taste sweet from inside too.

Sending these delicious, soft and flaky Badhushas to Sowmya of Nivedhanams who is hosting Tried and Tasted this month.  

Dear Friends, I am also looking for future hosts for Tried and Tasted Event. Interested Bloggers please contact me at venkateshlakshmi7(at)gmail(dot)com. For further details about the event and host list on Tried and Tasted, see here.

Manasi of A Cook @ Heart is holding a event called "I Must Make That" and she also has a giveaway. And after seeing her announcement I realized that the CupoNationIndia is catching up faster. And so sending this entry to her.

Sending this to Sumee's culinary Bites where she is hosting Bon Vivant - Quixotic Fixes.

and to the Sweet Luv - CJ#4 hosted by Cooks Joy