Ghari: Surat Mawa and Nut Pastry Fried in Ghee

Steps

1. 1Roast the mawa

   Crumble 1 cup (250 g) mawa with your fingers into a heavy pan. Set it over medium heat and stir constantly, pushing the crumbs around the base so no patch sits still. After about 4 minutes the aroma rises and a sheen of ghee starts to seep out of the mawa. Tip it into a bowl as soon as you see that ghee.

2. 2Toast the besan and add the nut powders

   Put the same pan back on medium heat with 1 tbsp ghee and 2 tbsp (20 g) besan. Stir as the flour soaks up the ghee and slowly darkens. When it is golden and smells toasted, add the almond powder and pistachio powder. Keep stirring for about 1 minute, until the nuts smell warm and fragrant.

3. 3Combine, cool and sweeten the filling

   Scrape the besan and nut mixture into the bowl of mawa. Add the saffron with its milk and the coarsely ground cardamom, and mix until the threads are spread through and the color is even. Leave the filling to cool. When it no longer feels warm, mix in the powdered sugar a little at a time, tasting as you go, and stop when it is as sweet as you like it.

   Sugar goes in cold

   Add the powdered sugar only after the filling has cooled. Mixed into hot mawa, the sugar melts and the filling turns soft and sticky, and it will not hold a round shape in step 5.

4. 4Make the dough

   In a separate bowl, mix 1 tbsp ghee into 1¼ cups (150 g) maida. Add the ¼ cup water a little at a time, kneading as you go. Stop adding water as soon as the dough comes together soft and smooth. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes before kneading it again.

5. 5Chill the coating ghee and shape the filling

   While the dough rests, melt the 4 tbsp coating ghee and put it in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes. Press the cooled filling firmly into a ¼-cup measure, tap it out and roll it between your palms into a round. Repeat with the rest of the filling, lining the rounds up on a plate.

6. 6Roll out the dough and seal each ghari

   Knead the rested dough briefly and divide it into one piece for each round of filling. Roll a piece out thin, set a round of filling in the center and gather the edges up over it. Pinch the gathered dough together, trim off the excess at the top and press the seam shut. No filling should show anywhere on the finished ball.

7. 7Fry one at a time, basting with ghee

   Heat the frying ghee in a kadai until it is medium-hot, then turn the flame down to between low and medium-low. Lower in one ghari and spoon hot ghee over its top again and again while the underside cooks. Check the bottom, and lift the ghari out when it is brown, which takes about 1½ to 2 minutes. Fry the rest the same way, one at a time.

   Hot ghee

   Lower each ghari into the kadai gently with a spoon, never by dropping it from a height, and keep your hand clear while you baste. Set the kadai on a back burner, keep children away from the stove, and never leave hot ghee unattended.

   Basting instead of turning

   Fry one piece at a time so you have room to baste. The spooned ghee cooks the top of the ghari without your having to flip it.

8. 8Cool completely and mix the coating

   Set the fried ghari aside on a plate until they are completely cool. Take the chilled ghee out of the refrigerator and put it in a small bowl with ½ cup powdered sugar. Stir until it becomes a smooth, pale paste with no dry sugar left. Keep the bowl and a small dish of chopped pistachio beside the plate of ghari.

9. 9Coat, garnish and set

   Dip each cooled ghari into the paste and turn it so the coating covers it all over. Set it back on the plate and scatter chopped pistachio over the top while the coating is still soft. When every piece is coated, put the plate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.