Badusha | Balushahi | A Sweet to Celebrate the Special Occasion

Badusha or Balushahi looking extra yummy and served in three different bowls, decorated with festival specials

5 from 2 votes

Badusha | Balushahi | A Sweet to Celebrate the Special Occasion

Badusha or Balushahi is Diwali special soft and flaky sweet prepared with Maida or all-purpose flour and deep fried in clarified butter/oil and coated with sugar syrup.

Prep Time40

Cook Time20

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: badusha, balushahi, special sweet recipe

Servings:

Calories: 606kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

1 cup Maida / All Purpose Flour
½ tsp Baking Soda
¼ tsp Baking Powder
3 tbsps Yoghurt / Curd / Yogurt I used greek yogurt
3 tbsps Melted Ghee - 3 tbsps + 1 tsp
1 cup Water + 1 tbsp
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Oil - for frying
⅛ tsp Saffron Strands - a pinch
1 tsp Elaichi Powder
Dried fruits nuts or colored grated coconut or colored sugar crystal or saffron threads for decoration.

Instructions

Steps

Preparing the dough

In a wide bowl, take the 3 tbsps of ghee, 3 tbsps of yogurt, baking soda and baking powder and whisk well. I used my electric hand mixer and whipped it for about 4 to 5 minutes till it becomes frothy.
Now remove the hand mixer and add the maida and 1 tbsp of water and slowly knead the dough.
Do not add any more water. The dough should be soft and moist but it should be too moist.
Knead the dough nice for about 5 minutes and apply 1 tsp of ghee on top and let it sit until the sugar syrup is ready.

Shaping the Dough into Badusha

Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
Now pinch a small lemon sized dough and shape into a round ball.
Flatten this round ball like below. Do not flatten like thattai, more like semi flattened sphere.
Now using your thumb or fore-finger press in the middle and twist it. Do not make a hole just a small dent. ;-)
Repeat the same for the rest of the dough.

Parallel Task

When you shaping the badusha, you can heat the oil for frying and also prepare the sugar syrup.

Preparing the Sugar Syrup

In a wide pan add 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water and heat it slowly.
Add a pinch of saffron and elaichi powder.
Mix till the sugar dissolves and let it simmer for couple more minutes and turn the heat off.

Frying the Badusha

Heat the oil for frying in a pan and make sure it is in low heat. (I have number setting and kept it between 3 and 4)
Frying in low heat ensures that badusha gets cooked well both inside and outside.
Once the oil is hot, frying badushas until they turn golden brown. I fried 3 badushas at a time. It varies depending upon your pan size.
Let the badushas rest in tissue paper or absorbent paper.

Soaking in the Sugar Syrup

Now add the fried badushas into the sugar syrup.
Make sure the badushas are coated well in the syrup.
Let it soak for 30 minutes and make sure you flip the badushas for every 5 - 10 minutes so that its gets soaked well in the syrup.
And that’s it. Badusha is ready. Decorate with dried fruits or saffron threads or use colored sugar crystal like me.

Notes

This recipe might sound like a lengthy process. But after you knead the dough, you can prepare the sugar syrup and heat the oil for frying while shaping the badusha.
By that way you can prepare it quickly without letting the sugar syrup crystallize.
If the sugar syrup crustallizes, add ½ cup of water and heat it for couple of minutes.
Make sure you whisk the ghee, yogurt and baking soda and powder nicely. That’s is the key thing and also knead the dough.
Also ensure the you are frying it in low heat for even cooking.
When you are trying it for the first time, don’t worry about the shape. You will eventually get it :-)

Nutrition