Mihidana

The batter goes through a perforated ladle so it fries as separate grains.

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

Ingredients

• 300 g rice flour, from fragrant rice
• 60 g gram flour
• a generous pinch of saffron
• 350 ml water
• 400 g sugar
• 200 ml water, for the syrup
• ghee for deep frying

Method

1. THE BATTER GOES THROUGH A PERFORATED LADLE SO IT FRIES AS SEPARATE GRAINS. Its article gives the whole method in four clauses: powdered fragrant rice with a SMALL AMOUNT of gram flour and saffron for colour, blended with water BY HAND UNTIL THE COLOUR LIGHTENS, poured through A BRASS LADLE WITH TINY HOLES into a pot of ghee and deep-fried, then the fine fried grains dipped in syrup and DRAINED ONCE SOAKED. The ladle is the dish. Its name says so -- mihi for fine and dana for grain -- and poured any other way the batter fries as a sheet.
2. THE HOLES ARE SMALLER THAN A BOONDI LADLE'S. Its article calls it the micro cousin of boondi, and that is a statement about hole size. A millimetre or so, and the grains come out like coarse sand rather than peas.
3. THE RICE IS THE FRAGRANT KIND AND ITS ARTICLE NAMES THEM. Kaminibhog, gobindobhog and basmati, powdered. Plain rice flour makes the right texture and loses the smell, which is half of it.
4. THE GRAM FLOUR IS A SMALL AMOUNT. Sixty grams against three hundred. It is there to bind, and more than that tastes of itself.
5. IT IS BLENDED BY HAND UNTIL THE COLOUR LIGHTENS. Its article says so, and that is a test rather than an instruction: beating air in pales the saffron batter, and until it pales it is not aerated enough to fry crisp.
6. THE BATTER IS THIN AND IT HAS TO BE POURED, NOT DROPPED. Loose enough to run freely through the holes under its own weight.
7. THE LADLE IS HELD WELL ABOVE THE FAT AND MOVED. A steady stream over the whole surface of the ghee, so the grains do not land on each other and clump.
8. THEY FRY IN UNDER A MINUTE AND MUST NOT COLOUR. Lifted out with a fine mesh while still pale -- browned, they go bitter and hard.
9. THEY ARE SOAKED AND THEN DRAINED, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SAYS. Into warm syrup for a minute, then turned out into a sieve and left to drip. Served wet they go to paste.

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