Malpua. Classic Indian style eggless pancakes soaked in sugar syrup to satisfy your sweet tooth. Crisp on the edges and fluffy in the middle, these pancakes are flavored with cardamom and fennel. Delicious!
Pancakes, to me, is all about fluffy pillows of deliciousness. I’m totally in love with the basic pancake recipe on the blog that’s customizable with your favorite add-ons. Moreover, I also love to capture the beauty of pancakes turned into elegant and delicious desserts.
So, is there a better way to enjoy pancakes than by whipping up a batch of these purely sweet and fluffy delicious goodies? And in this case, I’m talking about Indian style pancakes dripping with sugar syrup - malpua. This traditional eggless pancakes flavored with cardamom is usually served as a dessert during festivals like holi.
What I love about this recipe is that you can create them easily with basic ingredients from your pantry. Like regular pancakes, you just need all-purpose (plain) flour as the base ingredient.
Baking soda used to make this malpua turns it into beautiful fluffy pancake. Traditionally, this dessert is made with mawa (khoya) or whole dried milk. Making it at home is a time consuming process, and mawa is not readily available everywhere. So, I’ve decided to go with an easier option- milk powder. Malpua made with milk powder tastes as delicious as those made with mawa.
I also included a few spices in the batter like fennel powder and cardamom powder. And these spices are a ‘must’ in the recipe.
You might have noticed that this batter doesn’t contain any sugar at all. So, the hot malpua is dunked in a simple sugar syrup flavored with cardamom to make it as sweet as possible.
Again, traditionally, these pancakes are deep fried. But today, I’m thinking about a healthier way to enjoy them by substituting deep frying with shallow frying. The ghee used in frying process also makes malpua super flavorful.
So, why wait? Whip up a batch of these delicious pancakes, dunk them in sugar syrup, and enjoy. As an indulgent dessert, you can either serve them on their own, or add a ladleful of rabri to make them taste out of this world.
More Indian dessert recipes:
- Jalebi
- Gulab Jamun with Semolina
- Ladoo
- Moong Dal Ladoo
- Layered Coconut Burfi
- Chocolate Stuffed Coconut Ladoo
- Mysore Pak
- Peda
- Beetroot Halwa
Malpua | Video
Ingredients
Batter:
- 1 cup all purpose flour plain flour
- ½ cup milk powder
- ½ teaspoon ground fennel fennel powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom cardamom powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and ¼ cup milk or as required
Sugar syrup:
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup water
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom cardamom powder
Malpua:
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 2 tablespoon ghee clarified butter
- Pistachios to garnish
- Rabri to serve (optional)
Instructions
Batter:
- Place flour, milk powder, fennel, cardamom and baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add milk little by little to make lump free smooth batter with a pouring consistency. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
Sugar syrup:
- Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes or until the syrup is sticky. Remove from heat. Keep warm.
Malpua:
- Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add oil and ghee. Pour ¼ cup batter into the pan. Cook for 2 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. Turn and cook for another 2 minutes or until cooked through. Alternatively, you can deep fry the pancakes the traditional way.
- Transfer cooked pancakes to the sugar syrup. Allow to soak for few minutes. Garnish with chopped pistachios. Serve warm.
Video
Nutrition
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Alexandra @ It's Not Complicated Recipes says
I need to try these - I have never had anything like it before. That syrup sounds amazing!
Amy Joshua says
I am allergic to egg and this is the first time I came to know about an egg-less pancake. Thanks for the recipe!