BADUSHA: A Diwali Delight

Badusha - Even the thought of it makes me drool! This was the first sweet I tried all by myself when I came to this country, and I treated myself with this scrumptious sweet for the kitchen queen in me. I definitely deserved it as I was an amateur cook then, and I treated myself quite often, sometimes with flaw and sometimes perfect! Badushas were hard to avail in my little town, back in the 90s. These days, there are numerous sweet stalls that sprawl around every corner of the street. Mommy was very particular about hygiene, which literally did not allow us to eat sweet from anywhere outside. Also, those days, sweets were meant to be festive treats. That too, a badusha was certainly an once-a-year treat. A week before Diwali, mommies would convene at their favorite spot to discuss about sweet and savory items for Diwali. After it was all decided, a day was chosen, materials were bought, children were put asleep, and the embers were set. A few curious kids would linger around to have a taste of the freshly made sweets. Usually, a spot in the back yard was chosen to lit the embers. Melodies from Coimbatore radio station and Ceylon radio station, a few cups of filter coffee, chit-chats and gossips kept them all awake till late night.  Ahhh... Those were days!

I always wanted to cook, both as a child and as an adult. I proudly say this, as it gives me extreme pleasure to create, experiment and present. I love to cook, except when I have had enough! I almost screamed when a dear cousin of mine from Cary, North Carolina told me that it is easy to make badusha. We visited her family in November 2007 for Thanksgiving, and I finished almost all of her home made badushas single-handedly ( proud me!!!!). I had to ask for recipe, and she happily opened the doors of her cookbook. Aha.. That's how my badusha journey began. I tried it once, re-tried, three-tried to get it perfectly. Perfection achieved, I made it every time there was a party. A friend of mine asked for recipe, and I stuck to the golden rule of spreading and inspiring others to cook. I still have the MS Word-written recipe with me. Now that I have a blog and you all to read and appreciate, I have to share the recipe here.

Happy Diwali!


Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 3 cups. I used King Arthur, organic, unbleached all purpose flour.

Butter - 1/2 cup or 1 stick or 113 grams

Oil - 3 tbsps

Yogurt - 4 tbsp

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Sugar - 3 tsp

Sugar syrup:

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 11/2 cups

Cardamom Powder - a generous pinch

Saffron - a few strands.

Method:

Sugar Syrup:

Add sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan, and heat it until it comes to a rolling boil. Now add the cardamom and saffron. Then reduce the flame to medium, and keep boiling until it comes to a single string consistency. It means, when you place the syrup between your thumb and index finger and gently pull the fingers apart, it should form a single string. Keep it in very low flame just to contain the heat in syrup, else it may crystallize.


Dough:

Melt the butter to liquid, add all the ingredients together except the flour, in a wide pan. Whisk them all well, and now add the flour. Use both your hands to rub the flour against your palms. This is very important as properly mixed and rubbed flour will give rise to flaky badushas at the end. Now that all clumps are gone and the flour rubbed well, add very little water to knead it into a dough. Make it into a soft, pliable dough, cover it with a moist cloth, and leave it for 10 minutes. Then knead again, beat the dough against a hard surface. After all these harsh treatments, the dough looks really ready-to-go!

Ready to go


Pinch out little portions from the dough and roll it with your palm to make smooth balls. Now comes the decoration part. You can either make swirls or can make it into patties with a small dent in the middle.



The Glazy Badushas

Heat the oil, and to know whether it is ready for frying, throw a crumb of dough into the oil. The crumb has to immediately raise to the surface without settling to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the flame to medium, and slowly place the patties in the oil. I got a useful tip from a food site called sharmis passion. As you drop the patties, turn off the stove. Wait for the oil bubbles and hiss sound to completely vanish. Once it is gone, turn on the stove to a medium heat. Fry until golden brown. Place the patties onto a tissue to drain oil. Then place them in sugar syrup for 2-3 minutes. Flip them to coat with syrup.  Place them on a plate, and wait until the sugar crystallizes on the surface. Store them in air tight containers, and leave them outside. It is winter. They will stay fresh for long.

I carry lots of fond memories of badusha. What is your favorite sweet? Badusha, would be my answer, always! I am sure you too will have the same answer, especially after reading this post. Expectations!!!! Sigh....

A very happy Diwali to all of you. Let the lights illuminate your lives forever!


Comments

  1. These look awesome. Never had them before. Will definitely try.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sure, Deepika! They are yummy. I can vouch for that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chandra Gurunathan - I like the shape of your badusha. Kk absolutely loves badusha. It's his favorite sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nanda Periyasamy - Recipe'oda oru parcel badusha anupiyrundha innum super ah irukkum.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ritu Manchanda - Yummm this reminds me of sweets back home ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Suni here Sharmi... Love ur writing and

    ReplyDelete

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