Christmas usually means feasting, with cakes taking centre stage and dessert counters buzzing with demand. Every year, bakeries see a surge as people celebrate with rich, sweet treats. This time too, the appetite for desserts is high.
However, this year Christmas falls on a Thursday, when many households will observe Poush month Lakshmi Puja. On this auspicious day, egg-based cakes may not be suitable for everyone. But that doesn’t mean celebrations have to miss a sweet ending.
Instead, turn to a traditional delight- freshly made chhanar malpoa sweetened with pure jaggery. Simple to prepare and deeply comforting, this soft, melt-in-the-mouth dessert keeps both the festive mood and ritual purity intact, proving that tradition and celebration can go hand in hand.
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Here's the cottage cheese malpoa recipe…
Ingredients
Cottage cheese: 200 grams (drained and smoothly kneaded)
Khoya kheer: 50 grams (grated)
All-purpose flour: 3-4 tablespoons
Semolina: 1 tablespoon
Fresh jaggery: 4 tablespoons (the purer the liquid jaggery, the better the taste)
Fennel seeds: 1 teaspoon (lightly crushed)
Cardamom powder: a pinch
Sugar: 1 cup (for syrup)
Water: 1 cup (for syrup)
White oil or ghee: for frying
Method
First, prepare the syrup to sweeten the malpoa. In a pot, start boiling 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar. When it starts to boil, pour in the liquid jaggery. Add a little cardamom powder to this. The syrup shouldn't be too thick, but not too thin either. Once the syrup is ready, remove it from the heat. If it's too thick, it will crystallise and stick to the malpoa.
Now prepare the batter. Take cottage cheese in a large bowl and knead it very well with your palms so there are no lumps. Now mix in the grated khoya kheer, all-purpose flour, semolina, fennel seeds, and cardamom powder. Add a little water or milk to make a thick batter. Make sure the batter isn't too thin. Cover the mixture and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
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Time to fry the malpoa. Heat oil or ghee in a flat pan. Frying in ghee doubles the taste. When the oil or ghee is hot, reduce the heat. Now take a large spoonful of batter and drop it in the centre of the oil. The malpoa will naturally take a round shape. Fry both sides to a reddish colour on medium heat and remove. Keep the heat medium to low during this time; the top may burn while the inside remains raw.
Put the fried malpoa directly into the hot sugar syrup. Keep it soaked in that syrup for at least 20-30 minutes so the malpoa absorbs the juice and becomes soft and juicy.
Now arrange those malpoas nicely on a plate. If you wish, you can grate some khoya kheer on top and sprinkle chopped pistachios. This will enhance the taste of the malpoa.
