Banana Puri/Khaja
This Indian deep fried pastry is absolutely heavenly. It is light and crisp with a drizzle of syrup infused with cardamom and rose
Servings: 12
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1&1/2 cup cake wheat flour/all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 75 gram butter
- 1/2 cup ice water
- 1/4 tsp lemon juice
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
- few drops red food colouring (optional)
For Brushing
- 50 gram butter melted
- 2 tbsp cornflour
Syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground elachie/cardamom
- 1/4 tsp rose essence
Decorating
- Pistachio or Almonds
Instructions
Pastry
- Add the flour to a large bowl together with the baking powder. Place the butter in the bowl and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter. If you don't have on it's fine. Cut the butter in small pieces and add it to the flour
- Use your fingertips and rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs
- Mix the lemon juice into the ice water. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the ice water. Use a wooden spoon and bring the dough together
- Dust a smooth surface with some flour and knead the dough until smooth. If the dough feels a little sticky add a little sprinkle of flour. You should have a firm dough but not hard
- Wrap the dough in clingfilm. If you are using two different colours, divide the dough into halves and colour one half with some red food colouring or powder color, refrigerate for 30 minutes
- In the meantime make the syrup
- Divide each piece of dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each one out into a 21cmx21cm square piece. Place the first piece of rolled pastry on a piece of parchment paper. Brush with some melted butter and sprinkle some cornflour on top. Place the next piece of rolled out pastry and repeat the process. The final layer must also be brushed with butter and cornflour should be sprinkled on top. Brush the edges of the sheet of pastry with some water. Roll it into a swiss roll and cut into 18 pieces, about 1.5cm thick
- Gently roll each piece with a rolling pin, do not press too hard. Place them on parchment paper and once they are all rolled out you can begin frying
- Heat the oil in a flat pan on medium heat and then reduce to a low heat. Drop a piece of dough into the oil and if it rises the oil is ready. Or place the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil and if it bubbles rapidly the oil is ready. Fry 2 banana puris at a time to enable you to flip them over. Only attempt to flip them over after 1 minute or they will fall apart. Fry each side for at least 3 minutes on a low heat, the insides need to cook, flip over and fry the other side
- Allow to cool on a cooling rack and once cool drizzle the syrup over. Sprinkle some toasted pistachios or almonds if you prefer
Syrup
- Add half cup sugar and half cup water to a saucepan together with the cardamom and rose essence
- Allow the syrup to simmer until it thickens. Takes about 10 minutes
Notes
- I've added extra butter to my pastry dough because I wanted to achieve a thin, light and crisp Banana Puri. If you prefer a more firm, crisp Banana Puri you can reduce the butter to 50 grams
- If you wish to make smaller Banana Puris divide the dough into 4 pieces and make two layers of dough instead of one.
- Do not allow the Banana Puri to fry too quickly as the insides won't be completely cooked
- You can store the banana puri in an airtight container once completely cool
- The Banana Puri can be frozen, before it's fried. Place them in an airtight container, separating each layer with some parchment paper before freezing them. They can be fried straight out the freezer