Sunday, March 31, 2013

Badusha treats for Phagwah (Holi)



What a weekend!

We are fortunate to have two public holidays and an extra long weekend to celebrate. This year we have a bit of an unusual situation as other holidays also fall within this Easter weekend so let me say Happy Easter,  Happy Shouter/Liberation Baptist Day and Happy Holi!



Before I continue I must say thank you to my friend Gareth Leigh for very kindly allowing me the use of his images of Phagwah.

In Trinidad the festival of Holi is called Phagwah. We don't have any sweets as such that are associated with it however I discovered that in India sweets made with bhang are popular at this time. Bhang, by the way, is cannabis.

Hmmmm.

Right, so in lieu of that I bring you something a little less exciting, the consumption of which is not likely to land you in jail.

I loved these Indian treats. They were quite reminiscent of  Trinidadian fat kurma. It takes a little effort to make the pleats but if you are not so inclined to go through the trouble, just shape them as flattened balls with a slight indentation at the top.


Badusha

Ingredients

Makes 8 - 10

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup ghee or butter at room temperature
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup water ( or more- adjust accordingly)

Oil for deep frying

Sugar Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
pinch of cardamon
2 strands saffron*optioanal
1/4 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp of lemon juice

METHOD
Melt the butter/ghee. In a mixing bowl add melted butter, yogurt, oil, baking soda, and sugar.

Add the flour and mix well with a whisk. It should look crumbly like bread crumbs. Add water a little at a time to form a soft dough. Knead for 10 mins. Divide into lemon sized balls. Cover and set aside. Let rest for 10 mins.

Shape the badushas with decorative edged swirls or flatten the balls slightly and make a dent in the top with your thumb.

Here is a video to illustrate how the swirls are done.



Heat oil (medium high heat) in a frying pan. Check oil by adding a pinch of batter. If the batter rises quickly then it is the correct temperature. Fry the badushas 3 at a time, turning the heat down occasionally so that they do not burn and are cooked through the middle.

Line a tray with foil. Grease the foil with butter and set aside.
Add sugar, cardamon, ginger and water in a pan to make the sugar syrup. Cook on medium-high heat until the syrup makes a long, slow, string when your spoon is lifted. Quickly add the lemon juice ( to avoid crystallization).

Dip the badushas in the sugar syrup turning until coated on both sides. Transfer to the tray with the buttered foil. Once the glaze has dried you can store them in an airtight container for a few days.











19 comments:

  1. Happy Easter, Happy Shouter/Liberation Baptist Day and Happy Holi Wizzy! I think I've tried these treats once and they were delicious! :D

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  2. What a lovely space you have here..thanks for dropping by and leading me here..Badusha is one of those sweets that I enjoyed making..looks very nice..

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  3. Love, love, love the colours in the photos. What a great celebration - and one accompanied by tasty sweets too!

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  4. these sound so exciting and delicious!

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  5. can't say i've ever seen these before, but there's no doubt in my mind that i'd love 'em! :)

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  6. What a gorgeous treat! I'm most excited about how it pairs with that beautiful syrup...saffron, huh? Wondermous!!

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  7. I've never heard of these treats before...looks yummy!

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  8. These look great, what a treat. I hope you had a great weekend celebrating. I have always wanted to try and make sweets like these, thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  9. Luce delicioso me gustaría probar esta golosina,hugs,hugs.

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  10. These are awesome treats. What a great holiday! Thank you for sharing the images.

    Velva

    P.S. Thank you for visiting my blog. This gave me the opportunity to visit yours. I will be back.

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  11. Now when you make them with cannabis, you let me know. :) What a wonderful post and a gorgeous sweet treat.

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  12. Wow, your badushas look perfect! I can have all of the together!!

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  13. These look really great and wonderful !

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  14. Love the way you've presented these sweet treats. All new to me....loved reading about it.

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  15. I've never had Badusha before. It looks tasty.

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  16. Looks like you had a lot of fun :-)

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  17. This look so yum, I have never tried these sweets before.

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