Recipe of the month: Badam Puri

Whenever I have to prepare an Indian sweet dish for a festival, party or potluck, I inevitably shudder. To call myself an amateur at making Indian sweets would be an understatement. So far, my Indian sweet-making repertoire has been limited to a few simple kheers, coconut burfi as well as gulab jamun and rasmalai (the latter two made using the instant mix 😝). 

For someone like me, who really enjoys cooking, attempting to analyze why no efforts were made to learn comes to a very simple conclusion - I have never been overly fond of Indian sweets. Actually, come to think of it, I am not that much of a 'dessert person' to begin with. Probably the only few Indian sweets that I wholeheartedly relish are hot and crispy jelabis, kaju/badam burfis and motichoor laddus.

So one day, a week before Ganesh Chaturthi, I was on the phone with my MIL, lamenting about my lack of interest and skill in sweet-making with regard to festival preparations and she suggested that I try making badam puri. Not wanting to sound like an idiot, I racked my brain trying to remember what badam puris look and taste like. After listening to my ummmmm's and errrrrrr's I guess she figured out how clueless I was and proceeded to explain how she makes them.  I then remembered tasting them in the past and was relieved by a fleeting memory of even liking them. As is the case with most seasoned home cooks, she never uses a recipe because she can easily gauge the proportions and (unsurprisingly) they always turn out great. She convinced me that they are very easy to make and that it doesn't take too much skill. I figured this ought to be a very achievable task so I began hunting for a recipe on the internet. One of the very first recipes that I came across was from a nice blog called Sum's cuisine. Looking at the recipe and pictures, I instinctively felt that this would turn out well and I was right. Although this sweet dish is called badam puri, it is not mandatory that it should have any 'badam' (almond) in it but I recommend that you garnish it with almond slivers to enhance the taste and texture.

Here is the adapted recipe from the above-mentioned link. I modified it slightly according to my preferences and convenience. If you are intimidated by trying to prepare Indian sweets (like me), you should try this recipe. In my opinion, if I could do it....anyone can.

Badam Puri

Preparation time : 1 hour

Makes : ~12-15 badam puris

Serves: 6

Recipe category: Dessert/Indian
Recipe Level: Easy
Recipe Source: Sum's Cuisine

Ingredients:

For the dough:
2 cups maida (all purpose flour)
1-1/2 tbsp ghee (Indian clarified butter)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
a few sticks of cloves
a pinch of salt
Oil for deep frying
Water to make the dough

For the sugar syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
a few strands of saffron
1/4 tsp cardamom powder, Optional

For garnish:
Almond slivers, Optional
Dessicated coconut, Optional

Method:

For the dough:

1. In a bowl, add ghee, baking powder, salt and turmeric and beat it for at least 5 minutes continuously

2. Once the ghee forms a very smooth paste, add flour and mix thoroughly

3. Add a little water and form a firm dough. The dough should not be as soft as chapathi/roti dough but resembles more of a firmer puri dough. Knead the dough for at least 8-10 minutes ensuring there are no cracks in it.

For the sugar syrup:

1. In another vessel mix water and sugar and boil it. Add in a few strands of saffron to give it a nice yellow color. Cardamom powder may be added for enhanced aroma.

2. The syrup should be thicker than that for gulab jamun so that the puris do retain crispiness, yet absorb the sweetness. Make sure that the sugar syrup has reached a consistency where it coats the back of a wooden spoon.

For the badam puris:

1. Now make small balls out of the dough

2. Roll out puris of about 4-inches in diameter. Dust the board with flour if it sticks. Once you have rolled it out, smear the surface with a little ghee.

3. Fold it first into half and then fold it again, thus making it 4 layered.

4. Slightly press it, using the rolling pin so that the layers are held closely. Insert a clove in the middle to secure the layers together.

5. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry these rolled and folded puris one by one in medium low flame till golden brown. The puris puff up and increase in size when fried. Drain excess oil by spreading it on a kitchen towel / tissue

6. Dunk the puris one by one soon after they are fried into the hot sugar syrup. Turn them over and douse them in the syrup from all sides. 

7. After 2-3 minutes take out the sugar soaked puris from the syrup, in the order that they were dipped, remove the clove in the middle and garnish with almond slivers and dessicated coconut (if desired). If you don't like your sweet dish too sweet, dip them for a shorter time. 

8. Place the badam puris upright on a dry plate. The coated syrup is absorbed and the badam puris become dry with a glistening surface in sometime. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Notes:

• Knead the dough enough to get a uniform texture
• Try to get all the air out as you fold the puris otherwise bubbles start to form on the surface during frying
• I do not use food coloring in my cooking or baking. I find that adding turmeric powder is a safe and natural way of infusing pleasing color into dishes without altering the taste. Saffron although an expensive ingredient also infuses yellow color in addition to providing an exotic and deep aroma.
• Do not wait for too long after the syrup is made, as the syrup starts solidifying when cooled
• Do remove the clove before you eat the badam puris because accidentally biting into a whole clove can be rather unpleasant 
• I find that storing these badam puris in the fridge detracts from their taste so as far as possible try to finish them quickly

Cheers,

Megha