Orange Flavored Badushas

There are hundreds of dessert recipes in India. Sometimes the same sweet is called by different names in different parts of the country. As in every culture, desserts are made to mark either a special occasion or just because you want one right away. You will find a sweet shop at every street corner in India. When a craving hits for something sweet, sticky and syrupy one just needs to pop into a sweet shop, buy a sweet and gobble it right there.

While Gulab jamun seems to be the well known and popular sweet of India there is a wide array of delicious desserts from spongy, syrupy ones to bite me if you can Chikkis (Brittle). A dessert to satisfy every kind of taste bud.

Badusha or Balushahi is a doughnutty kind of sweet. It is denser and a little crispy than doughnuts. Traditionally they ooze out with ghee (clarified butter) as they are deep-fried in it and you cannot eat more than one but home cooks usually fry them in plain oil making them a little healthier and easy on the stomach. They still taste delicious though.

Today, my recipe is an altered version of the traditional recipe. I have added orange flavor to the Badusha. Recently I was munching on one of Panera’s orange-flavored scone and I started to dream of an orange-flavored Badusha. Hence, this recipe was born.

I have also mixed a few strands of saffron in the badusha dough.The marriage of orange and saffron is made in heaven and both the flavors turn this Badusha into something special.

Add all the spices and butter in the flour. Mix well until it looks like breadcrumbs. 

Add  yogurt and mix.

Add just enough orange juice to bring everything together with a fork.

Towards the end of mixing use hand to form a dough. 

Rest dough for 1/2 an hour.

Divide dough into 12 balls. Make a indentation in the middle.

Rest until oil gets heated.

Fry badushas on low medium heat until cooked through.

Ready to be dipped in syrup.

Make sugar syrup to one thread consistency.

Dip badushas in syrup. 2 minutes on each side.

Ingredients:

·         All-purpose Flour 1 cup

·         Sugar 1 cup

·         Cold Butter or ghee 2 tbsps

·         Yogurt 2 tbsps

·         Orange juice 4 tbsps (naturally sweet)

·         Orange zest ¼ tsp

·         Baking soda ¼ tsp

·         Salt a pinch

·         Saffron strands 1/8^th tsp

·         Water

·         Oil

·         Ghee 1 tsp

Mix the orange zest, baking soda, salt and saffron with the flour

.

Cut the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Mix in the yogurt.

Add just enough orange juice to bring all the flour together. Use a fork to do this job. If you use your hand you might accidentally knead the dough too much. We don’t want an elastic dough. At the last minute, you can use your hands to form a rough ball. Cover and let it rest for half an hour.

Divide the dough into twelve pieces for normal size badushas or into eight pieces for larger ones. Lightly form each piece into a ball and make a deep indentation in the center. Cover and let them rest until the oil heats up to fry them.

In a pan heat about three inches of oil. Use low medium heat. Drop the pieces of badusha into the oil carefully and fry them until they have a nice color and are cooked through. This is going to take time. Please don’t crank up the heat. Allow them to cook slowly on low heat.

Remove them from the oil.

Take a clean pan and add the sugar in it. Add ½ a cup of water. Turn heat to medium and wait for the sugar to melt.

Add the leftover orange juice into the sugar mixture.Cook till the syrup reaches one thread consistency. You can figure this out by touching the syrup from the ladle and drawing it between your forefinger and thumb. If it stretches into a thin thread it has reached the consistency. Be very careful though, because the syrup will be hot and you can burn your fingers. Remove from heat.

Add the ghee to the syrup. This step is optional but since we’re not frying the badushas in ghee this gives a good flavor.

Place the badushas into the syrup in one layer. Let them sit for two minutes. Turn them around and leave for another two minutes. Remove them from the syrup and let the syrup dry out.

You can top the badushas with orange zest and saffron or use the traditional decorations of sliced nuts like pistachios and almonds.

NOTE: If you would like to fry the badushas in ghee feel free to do so.

Also don't be tempted to add more saffron than the recipe calls for. Orange flavor is the showcase here.

For a video version of this recipe go to:

https://youtu.be/GNz4Ag10twE