When Kalyani asked me to do a guest post for her, I was pretty excited to say the truth as this will be my first one. I have known her for the past few months and I can say that she has become a close friend through the Blog Hop. Keeping in mind the festive month of the year I wanted to do something very very special for her. So presenting these “Lavang Latikas” from my grandmother's kitchen which she usually prepares during Diwali apart from the classic “Adhirasams”.
It had been some years since I made this. I do not know why I did not make this in the past few years but when thinking of traditional recipes this came in a flash. Both my children enjoyed this very much and hope you all do too. This is very easy to make and can be made and stored in a advance which will stay good for at least 4-5 days.
You’ll need:
- All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
- Ghee - 2 tbsp
- Salt - 1 pinch
- Water - To knead
- Sugar - 3/4 cup
- Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
- Milk - 2 tbsp
- Cloves - As needed
- Oil - For Deep Frying
- Khoya / Mava – ¼ cup
- Almonds – 7 -8
- Cashew nuts – 7 - 8
- Powdered sugar – 4 tbsp
- Milk / rose water – few drops
For the Dough:
In a bowl place all purpose flour with salt and mix well. Add ghee and rub with your fingers till they resemble bread crumbs. Add water little by little and make soft dough. Let it rest for at least 1/2 hour. Keep the dough closed with a damp cloth.
For the Sugar Syrup:
Heat 1/2 cup of water in a vessel. Add sugar and let it dissolve completely. Add the milk at this stage and when the scum separates remove with a ladle or filter the syrup by passing it through a sieve. Cook further over low flame till you get to the one string consistency. Switch off stove and add cardamom powder. Keep it warm.
Heat 1/2 cup of water in a vessel. Add sugar and let it dissolve completely. Add the milk at this stage and when the scum separates remove with a ladle or filter the syrup by passing it through a sieve. Cook further over low flame till you get to the one string consistency. Switch off stove and add cardamom powder. Keep it warm.
For the Stuffing:
Coarsely powder the almonds and cashew nuts. In a bowl crumble and mash khoya. Add the powdered nuts, sugar and mix well. If it is dry add few drops of milk or rose water to make it moist. Keep aside.
Coarsely powder the almonds and cashew nuts. In a bowl crumble and mash khoya. Add the powdered nuts, sugar and mix well. If it is dry add few drops of milk or rose water to make it moist. Keep aside.
How to make Latikas:
Take a small lemon size ball from the dough and flatten it like you would for a poori.
Take a small lemon size ball from the dough and flatten it like you would for a poori.
We are going to make an envelope here. Bring the opposite edges as shown in the picture.
Apply pressure gently so that they can stick well. Insert a clove in the center as securing it with a pin.
How to proceed:
Heat oil in a kadai. Slip the latikas one by one and cook till golden brown and crisp. Drain on a kitchen paper and immediately put them in the sugar syrup. Let it soak for at least half an hour and then it is ready to serve.
How I made it:
Usually Grandma deep fries them in ghee which I just can’t imagine doing so. So I cheated by adding a few tbsps of ghee to the oil to not to miss out on the flavor part. Also I cooked the sugar syrup to 2 string consistency which she also does as it would make storage easier. The sugar syrup will coat the lavang latikas well and it would be easy to serve too.
Notes:
- If you are unable to get hold of Khoya you can also use “paal kova” but leave out the sugar.
- You can also coconut stuffing used for poli as a variant.
- You can also add any food color to the sugar syrup.