Badusha – One of the famous and irresistibly delicious Diwali sweets! An Indian version of donuts I would say

You need –

• Plain flour/ maida – 1 1/2 cups
  Baking soda – 3 pinch
  Yogurt 1.5 teaspoons
  Sugar – 1 1/4 teaspoons
  Melted butter – 1/4 cup
  Water – as required
  Oil – for deep frying

For the syrup –

• Sugar – 3/4 cup
  Water – 3/4 cup
  Lemon juice – 1/4 teaspoon
  Rose water – a few drops

How to –

To make the dough, in a bowl whisk the yogurt, baking soda, sugar and melted butter till well blend. Gradually add the flour and knead into a smooth, soft dough by adding just enough water. I used my stand mixer to knead the dough. You will need to knead the dough for about 10 mins by hand or 8 mins in stand mixer. Cover the dough and let it sit for 30 mins to 1 hour undisturbed.

For the sugar syrup, in a pan, bring the water to boil and dissolve the sugar over low heat. Once the sugar has dissolved; continue to boil till you the sugar syrup reach a string consistency. Turn the heat off and add the lemon juice and rose water. Stir and set aside.

To shape the dough, roll the dough into 12-13 small lime sized balls and flatten the balls slightly between your palms and using your thumb make a little dent in the middle or make swirl pattern by pinching the edges and folding it inward.

For frying, heat the oil in a deep frying pan till the temperature is 180c. You have to make sure that the oil is not smoking hot. Slowly and carefully drop about 3 badushas and turn off the heat and allow to cook them in the heated oil. Let them cook till they rise and start to float. Now turn the heat on to medium low and flip the badushas and let it continue to cook till golden brown. Please make sure that at no point the oil is smoking hot so regulating the oil temperature is very important in perfecting the badushas.

Now remove and drain them on a kitchen towel. Dunk the badusha in the sugar syrup for a minute or so. Place a tray lined with a greased aluminum foil. Carefully place the sugar coated badushas on the foil and allow to cool at room temperature. Repeat the process and fry the remaining badushas.

Store them in an air tight container and they stay for 2-3 days at room temperature or you can refrigerate