আনন্দ নাড়ু - "Happy Balls"

It is a Bengali tradition during winter to eat “pitthe” – a group of sweetmeats made from coconut, rice flour, milk and molasses from date palm trees. These traditional recipes are usually complicated and time-consuming.

My mother-in-law taught me this quick and easy recipe so that her grandchildren could enjoy this winter treat while being simple for me to make anywhere.

Ingredients:

· 2 cups rice flour

· 1 cup desiccated coconut

· 1 cup sugar

· 1 cup cake flour

· Pinch of salt

· 1 tsp baking powder

· 3 Tbsp (1/4 cup) unpolished white sesame seed

· +- 1 cup milk

· Oil for deep-frying

Method:

• Mix all dry ingredients together with milk. The mixture mustn’t be too dry or too soggy. It is not supposed to form a dough.
• Make the mixture into small balls.
• The oil must be very hot before frying. You can test the temperature with a small sample of the mixture which should float to the surface.
• Fry till golden brown on all sides. Be careful, and lower the temperature when the oil becomes too hot and starts to burn the balls without cooking them on the inside.
  
• Place cooked balls onto a paper towel to drain excess oil.
  
• Enjoy and share with your loved ones.
• Good luck!