Mawa Kachori (Sweet Milk-Solid Stuffed Pastry)

Make dough: Rub ghee into maida, add water to form a stiff dough. Rest 20 minutes. Make filling: Heat mawa in a pan, stir 3–4 minutes until soft and fragrant (not coloured). Cool. Mix with chopped nuts, sugar, cardamom, saffron milk, and rose water into a thick paste. Make sugar syrup: Heat sugar and water to one-string consistency. Keep warm.

About 20 min

Tip: The mawa filling must be completely cooled before stuffing — hot filling creates steam inside the kachori during frying, causing it to burst.

Divide dough into 8 portions. Roll each into a circle. Place 2 tbsp mawa filling in the centre. Bring edges together and seal tightly into a ball. Gently flatten into a thick disc (do not make too thin — the walls must be substantial to hold the filling during frying). Make sure there are no cracks in the dough.

About 15 min

Tip: Sealing the edges completely is critical — any gap will cause the mawa filling to spill into the oil, creating a mess and hollow kachori.

Heat oil to 150°C (low heat for slow frying). Fry kachoris in batches of 3–4 for 8–10 minutes until uniformly golden all over. They need slow frying to cook the thick dough through. Drain briefly, then immediately dip each kachori in warm sugar syrup for 30 seconds. Remove and serve. The syrup-soaked exterior and creamy mawa interior is the signature combination.

About 20 min

Tip: Serve immediately after syrup-dipping — mawa kachori left to sit becomes soggy. This is a made-to-order, eat-immediately sweet.