Badusha

This is not too sweet and mild in sweetness... but loved for its unique taste and textures.

Ingredients:

For the Badusha
Maida / All purpose Flour - 4 cups
Butter - 175 gms
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Water - 1 & 1/4 cups

For Sugar Syrup
Sugar - 1 & 1/2 cup
Cardamom  a pinch
Water - 1 & 1/2 cups
Milk - 1 tsp (optional)
Oil for frying (you can add 3 tsp of ghee if you so wish)

Method:

To make the Badusha

 Measure out the flour

 Add the baking soda and shift well

 Add the butter to the flour

 Crumble well to get this texture..

Slowly add the water and start kneading the flour into a dough. Keep kneading until you get a dough that is very soft but elastic in texture. When you punch it, it should punch back. It is very important to have the dough very pliable and soft.

When you are set to fry the Badushas, pinch out small balls from the dough. Circle them between your hands to form a perfect balls.

 Then using your palm, press them down to form a circle. Then press your index finger in the middle to make a dent. It mostly punches back, but make sure you press the hole down.

 Deep fry the badusha in batches on medium heat.

 To make the badusha with pleats or folds, flatten the ball like the above,

 Start folding from a point in and out like above.

 You will have something like this..

 Deep fry these again in hot oil over medium flame.

Meanwhile have the syrup cooking.

How to make the Sugar Syrup:
Mix the sugar with water and melt it. I normally strain it to remove the impurities. But you can add 1 tsp of milk which will get the impurities to surface to the top, which can be easily removed.

Continue cooking till you get one thread consistency. This can be checked by touching the syrup between your index and thumb. You will see one thread formed when you move your fingers away from each other.

At this stage add the cardamom, let it cook for few more seconds and switch off the flame.

 Dip the cooked Badushas into the hot syrup, press down well using a ladle. Allow couple of minutes of standing time, remove out of the pan. It will absorb syrup when both are quite hot.

If the Syrup gets cold, you can heat it again on low flame. If required add little water to thin it.

Once all the Badushas are done, spread them on a plate, allowing it to cool down a bit.