mithi bundiya

in some temples of banaras you get this bundiya as prasad after evening aarti, sometimes it is made at home during some festivals or puja....these are small fried balls of gram flour, filled with sugar syrup............when i was a kid i used to wonder how the syrup is injected in each of these small bundis..................when we were in chandigarh, a slightly bigger version of bundis were available there ,(those were made of maida , but the procedure to make is the same), especially on teusdays , when we kids used to read hanuman chalisa and offering the bhog of these bundis........to be honest i would read the hanuman chalisa only to get this bundi........and then after doing the puja i would enjoy this sinful syrupy bundis.........actually i used to prick each bundi , slurp the syrup from it , then eat the rest of it...........don't laugh.........it use dot be a lot of fun..................
later when i saw them being made, i laughed at my ignorence........though the process of making it is a bit tricky, it is worth all the hard work................but you know this time i am cheating ......these bundiya have come from banaras and i just could not stop myself from clicking its pics ( ever since i started blogging i feel like clicking all the food we eat, of course with my humble cell phone camera) ..........i am giving the recipe to make it.....i have made it several times but now a days i am on low cal diet n thes are calorie bombs.....better to say calorie splinters.........ohhhh........this language of mine is aweful.........


next time when i make them i will post a step by step picture of it.......but it can be tried without that too.......it is simple if you have fried pakodas etc.


just take a cup of besan and a pinch of soda bi carb.......sieve them together to mix ......a pinch of synthetic yellow color can be added , though i never do it, instead i use a few strands of saffron in the sugar syrup .

make a batter of besan with almost equal quantity of water so that it becomes a batter of pouring consistency...............now you need a wide ladle with holes in it , called a jharna in banaras.......the holes are the size of red lentils...........somebody had gifted me a ladle made with coconut shell with small holes in it ......i use that often when i make it in small quantity.

firstly make syrup of sugar by heating it with water ( equal quantities again ) .....when syrup starts boiling check by sticking it between the thumb n the index finger......it should form a thread when streched ......let off the flame and add a few saffron strands to give a nice color n a subtle aroma of saffron......

next, you have to heat ghee in a wide skillet, keep the jharna over the skillet and pour half a cup of besan batter on the jharna...and tap it with the back of the cup so that all the batter rains down into the hot oil........with the coconut shell ladle i just pour the batter in it n tap it against the skillet...........small droplets of batter fall into the hot oil n get fried...it has to be done at medium heat........stir the droplets into the oil n keep frying till they sound hollow n crisp.........take out and throw them into the cooled sugar syrup of one thread consistency.....repeat till all the batter is consumed and dip all the bundis into the syrup..............after a while drain any extra syrup from the bundis as all the bundis soak syrup n there should be no syrup outside the bundis........


garnish with flakes of nuts if desired......and a few cardamoms, crushed.

we like the bundi with curds n call it dahi bundiya......it makes a nice dessert...try it..........tastes awesome.............but the curd should be at room temperature cuz the ghee in the bundiya makes it hard when fridge cold curd is used ..........this bundiya can be made in any refined oil also n then it can be had with cold curds.........or with cream...........depends how sinful you wanna be....

enjoy....