Laung lata

The fold is pinned shut with a clove, which is what the name is.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (khoya).

Ingredients

• 300 g maida, plain white flour
• 4 tablespoons ghee, for the dough
• about 110 ml water
• 200 g khoya
• 50 g fresh coconut, grated
• 40 g mixed nuts, chopped
• 30 g raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 16 whole cloves
• 300 g granulated sugar
• 200 ml water, for the syrup
• ghee for deep frying

Method

1. THE FOLD IS PINNED SHUT WITH A CLOVE, WHICH IS WHAT THE NAME IS. Its article gives the step plainly and gives the reason, which is rarer: the dough IS THEN FOLDED TO ENCLOSE THE FILLING COMPLETELY AND CLOVES ARE PRESSED OVER IT TO ENSURE THAT THE FOLD DOESN'T OPEN UP WHILE PREPARING. Laung is clove. The spice is a rivet before it is a flavour, and the sweet carries its name.
2. THE PARTS ARE THREE AND THE ARTICLE LISTS THEM. LABANGA LATIKA CONSISTS OF FILLING, DOUGH, AND SUGAR SYRUP, and its ingredients are MAIDA, KHOYA, NUTMEG POWDER, GRATED COCONUT, GHEE, NUTS, RAISINS, CARDAMOM, CLOVES, AND SUGAR.
3. THE DOUGH IS STIFF AND SHORT. Four tablespoons of ghee rubbed into three hundred grams of maida, then as little water as it takes. Rested half an hour.
4. THE FILLING IS DRY AND COOLED. Khoya warmed with the coconut, nuts, raisins, nutmeg and cardamom for five minutes, then spread out to go completely cold. Warm filling steams the parcel open in the ghee.
5. ROLL SMALL SQUARES AND FOLD THEM LIKE AN ENVELOPE. Ten centimetres, two millimetres thick. Filling in the middle, two sides in, then the other two over, so the seams meet in the centre.
6. PUSH A CLOVE THROUGH THE MIDDLE AND OUT THE OTHER SIDE IF YOU CAN. Stem first. This is the step the whole dish is named for and it is the difference between a sealed parcel and a burst one.
7. FRY THEM IN GHEE AT A LOW HEAT, EIGHT TO TEN MINUTES. The article says cooked in hot ghee; low and slow is what gets the maida cooked through without the clove scorching. They should be pale gold.
8. DIP THEM IN WARM ONE-THREAD SYRUP FOR A MINUTE, THEN DRAIN. The clove stays in and is not eaten. Its article places the sweet across eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Odisha and Bihar, and notes it is sold in sweet shops throughout Bihar.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes