Let me just admit it, I can never make them as well as my mom makes it, layers of thin crisp wafers dusted in almond and sugar, so crunchy, yet they melt in your mouth the instant you dig into them, the feeling is too good to be true. Mom made this very often during festivals, and remade them before I left India, my sons and I ate them to the last sugar dust.
There are three forms to this sweet. First one – is frying the puris in hot oil/ghee and dipping them into thick sugar syrup, second one – is just deep fry and dust them with almond and sugar powder, and the third one – layering the fritters is almond paste, deep frying them and dusting them with almond powder.
Here is mom’s recipe – the second one is often the mildest form, low in calories, easiest, and quickest to make.
What you need: Makes 30 – 40 fritters
3 cups regular all purpose flour / maida
1 cup chirottee rava / finest semolina
½ cup rice flour
A pinch salt
2 cups warm water to mix
2 to 3 cups of hot oil/ghee to deep fry
For the almond and sugar powder:
1 cup almond finely ground
1 cup sugar finely ground
2 green cardamoms
Pour oil into a thick bottom pan, let it heat up on medium.
In the meantime, add the flour and rava is a medium mixing bowl. Add the pinch of salt and 3 tsp of hot oil from the pan. When the oil is poured on the flour mixture, it should sizzle; it is the key to crisp fritters.
Mix the mixture well, then add 2 cups or less warm water and knead it to soft and pliable dough.
Divide it into make 6 parts.
Roll out each into a fairly thin flat bread, and keep them aside.
Mix rice flour with 4 tsp ghee into a smooth paste. If you want a richer feel, you may substitute rice flour for finely ground almond powder.
For the assembly, take the first bread, paint on a spoon of rice flour paste, and top it with the next bread, Repeat the procedure until you create a lasagna cake. Gently roll out this mass with a rolling pin, to thin it down to half its thickness.
Cut them into 1 inch square pieces, press them down gently, and roll out each, one last time, to hold on to all the layers, deep fry them in the hot oil.
In the meantime, grind the almond, sugar and cardamom to a fine mixture; sieve it to get a fine powder, set aside.
Place them on a large plate, and as they are piping hot, dust them with a generous amount of almond and sugar powder. Let them cool completely before you sink your teeth into them. Enjoy!
