Balushahi Recipe

Balushahi, also known as Badusha in South India, is a delicious Indian sweet with a crispy outside and a soft, flaky inside. Its mild sweetness makes it a favorite during festivals and special occasions.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Keyword badushah, balushahi

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 55

Servings Piece

Calories 122kcal

Author Puja

Equipment

Ingredients

For balushahi dough

2 cups All-purpose flour
¼ cup Ghee in a semi-solid state
¼ cup Curd
8 to 9 tbsp cold water for kneading or as required
1 pinch salt
1 pinch baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder

For sugar syrup

1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp cardamom powder or add as required
10 to 12 saffron strands
2 to 3 drops lemon juice optional

Other ingredient

oil or ghee for deep frying, as required

For garnish

1 to 2 tbsp chopped pistachio or almonds or nuts of your choice

Instructions

Creaming ghee

Take ¼ cup ghee in a bowl.
With a spoon or spatula or a small wired whisk, beat the ghee till it is smooth, light and fluffy. You will see the color will also lighten.
Now add ¼ cup chilled fresh curd (dahi).
Again mix and whip the curd with the creamed ghee until light and smooth.

Making badusha dough

Now using a sieve, take the all-purpose flour in it. Place it on the bowl itself.
Add 1 pinch salt, 1 pinch baking soda and ½ teaspoon baking powder.
Sift directly in the creamed ghee and curd.
Mix the flour lightly with the creamed ghee and curd using a spoon or spatula.
Sprinkle some cold water in parts and begin to mix it. Overall you can use 8 to 9 tablespoons cold water. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water at a time and mix.
Mix and combine everything to form a soft dough. Do not knead. Just mix and bring everything together to a dough.
In case the dough becomes sticky, then add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Use light pressure from hands and form a dough. At this point, do not knead heavily or if required then knead very lightly.
Cover the dough and set aside for 15 minutes.

Making sugar syrup

Meanwhile make sugar syrup. While frying balushahi also you can make sugar syrup. Take 1 cup of sugar in a pan or bowl.
Use a bowl or pan with more surface area so that the balushahi can get enough space for soaking.
Add ½ cup water and mix.
Place the pan on a low heat.
Using a spoon stir the sugar so that it dissolves.
If there are impurities in the sugar syrup, then add 1 tablespoon milk. Remove the scum that forms at the top.
When all the sugar has dissolved, add 1 teaspoon green cardamom powder. Then add 10 to 12 saffron strands. Stir and mix again.
Simmer the sugar solution on a low to medium-low heat. Stir occasionally. To avoid crystallization of sugar, you can add some drops of lemon juice at this point.
Simmer till the syrup becomes sticky or you get ½ string consistency in the syrup. You can even cook it to 1 string consistency if you prefer.
The sugar syrup should be sticky. Take little syrup in a spoon, cool it and touch it, it should feels sticky. When the syrup becomes sticky, then switch off heat.

Frying balushahi

Before frying balushahi you can begin to heat oil in a kadai or pan on a medium heat. You can also use ghee instead of oil to fry balushahi.
Pinch small to medium-sized balls from the dough. Roll them gently and lightly between your palms.
Then make an indent or depression in them. You can flatten them slightly incase you prefer. Make 6-7 badhusha depending on the size of kadai.
Cover the remaining dough and keep aside.
Check a tiny piece of the badhusha dough in the medium hot oil. It should come up gradually and steadily.
Now gently begin to place balushahi in the hot oil.
Be careful when you are keeping the balushahi in hot oil. Add 5 to 6 or 7 balushahi depending on the size of kadai.
The badushah will expand in oil while frying, so ensure not to over crowd the kadai or pan.
Begin to fry badusha on a low to medium heat.
When one side firms up and is light golden, turn over each badusha.
Keep on turning them over at intervals and frying them on a low heat.
Frying balushahi on a low to medium flame takes about 12 to 15 minutes. This will depend on the size, thickness of kadai and the intensity of flame.
It took me 15 minutes to fry each batch of 6 balushahi.
Fry till golden and crisp.
Using a slotted spoon remove them draining the extra oil.
Place them on kitchen paper towels. When the first batch is getting fried, you can make balushahi from the dough and keep them ready to fry in the second round.
Keep the shaped and prepared balushahi covered with a kitchen napkin. Then fry the second batch of balushahi in the same way.

Making balushahi

After a couple of minutes, when fried balushahi are still hot, place them in the hot or warm sugar syrup.
With spoon or tongs turn over each badusha, so that both sides are coated with sugar syrup. Let these badusha soak in the sugar syrup for about 14 to 15 minutes.
After 14 to 15 minutes, using tongs or spoon, lift each balushahi and place it in a serving tray or bowl. In the same sugar syrup, now add the second batch of balushahi.
Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of pistachios all over. You can even sprinkle some saffron strand and rose petals if you want to.
You can press the pistachios slightly with your fingers or spoon, so that they stick to the sugar syrup on the badusha.
Fry the remaining badusha and then soak them in the sugar syrup.
In case if sugar syrup crystallizes then add 2 to 3 tablespoons water and warm or heat the syrup again on a low flame.
Serve Balushahi as a sweet. Leftovers can be easily stored in an air-tight jar or container at room temperature for about 5 to 6 days.

Notes

Do not knead the dough. Gently mix with a spoon and form to a evenly mixed dough.
Ensure that the ghee is grainy and in a semi-solid state. It should not be melted, runny, or cold and solidified.
Make sure to follow the frying method as mentioned in the recipe.
You can scale to make a smaller portion or a big batch of balushahi.

Nutrition