I bring you a lovely Indian-inspired dessert in honor of India’s 68th Independence Day on the 15th. It is a beautiful Indian tradition to have something sweet on any auspicious occasion, so if you are looking for something unique to celebrate this national holiday, do read on.
Malpua is an Indian dessert, which like most Indian desserts, is sinfully rich and delicious. I have never had an authentic malpua, it is not that common where I grew up. Imagine a deep-fried pancake soaked in a sweet sugar syrup, sometimes also served with a sweetened condensed milk preparation (rabri). That roughly sums up malpua. There are countless variations as always. While northern India is full of wheat and sugar based desserts, the south is famous for desserts made with rice flour and jaggery. Yes, malpua has a long-lost cousin in the south, the equally calorific deep-fried adhirasams. I couldn’t be remotely bothered with either of them so far. The adhirasams especially are a lot of work.
But some overly ripe bananas in our fruit basket led me to think about a stack of banana pancakes. One thought led to another and soon I found myself thinking of a non-fried malpua recipe by Tarla Dalal. So instead of banana pancakes with maple syrup, I decided I would try my hand at a “healthier” version of the malpua dessert made with regular pancakes. It still has a substantial amount of sugar in the syrup, so I would say this recipe is only relatively healthier than the traditional one. But we have totally eliminated the frying part.
Of course, the edges of these pancakes do not become crisp like they would if you fried them, but that is a concession I am willing to make any day. These are pretty addictive. Seriously. Do not eat one of these with the whole stack right in front of you. Take one out, keep the container out of sight and enjoy your banana malpua slowly, savoring the burst of sweet syrupy flavor in your mouth. Since it is healthier, maybe you can justify having two! They keep well in the refrigerator, so you can enjoy them over a few days by slightly re-heating them while serving.
The batter in the original Tarla Dalal recipe has only flour and heavy cream, but I made them as one would prepare eggless pancakes. Yes, the batter has no eggs or other leavening agents, so the pancakes are rather flat. But once they soak up all the syrupy goodness, they become deliciously soft and sweet! You can also try serving them with honey or sweetened condensed milk. I am sure Tarla Dalal would have approved. After all, she was known for her twisted (and yummy) interpretations of traditional Indian recipes.
Malpua can be served with lightly toasted nuts like pistachios and almonds. I did not have any on hand when I made this, so I served them with crunchy homemade muesli. The crunchiness and slight saltiness of the oats and the tartness of the dried cranberries complimented the sweet pancakes really well. All said and done, these looked really different from a traditional malpua, more like deconstructed malpua.
BANANA MALPUA (INDIAN PANCAKES IN SUGAR SYRUP)
You will need:
For the sugar syrup,
- Water – 1 cup
- Sugar – 1 cup
- Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp
For the banana pancakes,
- Bananas – 2 large ones, very ripe
- Milk – 1 cup
- Sugar – 2 tbsp
- Whole-wheat flour and all-purpose flour – 1 cup in total (half cup of each or in any ratio you like)
- Semolina or rice flour – 1/4 cup
- Salt – 1/8 tsp
- Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp
- Oil or ghee – a few teaspoons, for greasing the pan
How to:
- Sugar syrup: Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat till the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat and boil the syrup for 5 minutes till it is slightly thickened. Cool slightly and strain to remove the cardamom threads.
- Banana pancakes: Mash the bananas, add milk and sugar and combine well. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients together. Mix dry and wet ingredients well till a smooth lump-free pancake batter is formed. You can easily do this in a blender too. Let the batter rest for an hour in the refrigerator.
- Heat a skillet and brush lightly with oil or ghee. Pour a small amount of batter and cook till lightly browned on both sides. Dot the sides of the pancake with a little ghee for added flavor. Make pancakes of your preferred size, but not too large. Repeat till all the batter is used up. Keep the cooked pancakes warm.
- Malpua: Take the sugar syrup in a flat dish and soak the pancakes in it for 10 minutes. Both the pancakes and syrup must be warm and not cold or even too hot. You can remove some of the excess syrup once the malpuas are soft and sufficiently sweet. This leftover syrup may be stored in the refrigerator to be used again.
- Enjoy warm malpuas topped with crushed nuts or some crunchy muesli/granola.
If you are curious about the muesli, here is how I made it.
You simply combine a little oil and sweetener (brown sugar or honey), toss rolled oats in it and toast it in a hot skillet till golden (or bake in a 350 deg. F oven for 15 minutes or till golden). A cup of oats needs a tablespoon each of oil and brown sugar. Add a handful of your favorite nuts or dried fruits to the toasted oats and break up any large clusters. Cool completely and store in an airtight container. It is perfect in parfait or as a simple snack.
Scale up the recipe to as much as you need.
Have you had malpua the traditional way? Or are you looking for a unique dessert? Try this recipe then.
I assure you it’ll be a huge hit!
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Thought these were pancakes for a split second! Thanks for sharing the recipe, will definitely give it a try!
I have made malpua as pancakes instead of deep frying them! Do give it a try 🙂
These pancakes look delicious! Your photography and food styling is excellent 🙂
Thank you, Matea. Appreciate it!
Your photography is amazing! I am jealous of your pour shot. This recipe looks delicious too!
Aww… thank you so much! Appreciate it 🙂
Oh, Anjana, may I please have a stack of these pancakes??
Of course, you may 😉
Yum, these sound amazing! I do love Indian desserts, they’re always so sweet and yummy!
Thank you, Michelle. It’s great you love Indian desserts!
D D D Delicious…..
Thank you, Chitra!
Nice idea or a twist on a regular eggless pancake. I love adhirasams too, and always buy some when in India.
Thank you, Apsara!
Anjana, these look amazing – your photos are just so beautiful – you have really captured how delicious these must be. I like how you have modernised a traditional recipe, making it a little healthier and faster too. Thanks so much for bringing these to the party – Happy Independence Day and Happy Fiesta Friday!
Aww… thank you so much, Selma!. You are too kind!
Yummy pancakes!
Thank you!
Pancakes are my one true love, so I’m loving these pancakes Anjana! Happy Independence to India, and Happy Fiesta Friday to you 😀
Thank you, Jess 🙂
wow, brilliant recipe. Mock pancakes aka Malpuas sounds totally enticing. I have a question though, what does the rice flour do in the batter?
Thank you, Namrata.
Like I mentioned, I have no prior experience making them, so I simply added bananas to a traditional malpua recipe. I think it was the bengali version in which I replaced part of the milk with mashed bananas and that’s it. I also didn’t add fennel as I don’t like it and was not sure it would go well with the bananas. Rice flour/suji is supposed to make the edges crisp while frying them. I found that the pancakes did have a thin crust-like top once cooked, especially the thin ones. Hope this helps 🙂
ah.. yea. Now i see it. Crisp yet soft insides – this combo works any day! Its a keeper, this recipe.
This has become my go-to recipe for eggless banana pancakes I add a touch of baking powder also and sprinkle chocolate chips on top! It’s perfect!!
So gorgeous Anjana! Love the non deep fried version of malpua 🙂 your pics are stunning!!
Thank you, Naina. That means a lot, coming from you 🙂
i love the drenching part 😉 looks so very very inviting 🙂
Thank you!
Reblogged this on Chef Ceaser.
Hm… Lovely…Have tried banana pancakes but never heard of malpua. As you said not common in where I come from.Honey was the way to go here…
Thank you! Honey would be lovely too, but I decided to indulge in some lovely cardamom flavored sugar syrup 🙂
Anjana,Looks soo beautiful!Love the clicks!
Thank you so much 🙂
They look so yummy 🙂
Thank you!
“Indian Pancakes Drenched In Sugar Syrup”… The name itself is so inviting! I love the way you have eliminated the deep-frying.
As for adhirasams, yes they are a lot of work, but what a result at the end of it! 🙂
Thank you, Aruna. Love adhirasams, and I wish someone would make them for me 😉
Come, come… I will.
Aww… that’s so sweet. Wish I could fly over there, eat your food and come back…lol 😉
Oh yum, looks amazing 🙂
Thank you!
they look yummy! I made some banana pancakes last week with oat meal and cottage cheese and served them with maple syrup and fresh berries. yum!
Thank you. Fresh berries and pancakes make an awesome combo!