Ranga Alu r Vaja Pantua ( Fried Sweet Potato Balls)

Winter in Kolkata reminds me of "Poush Sankranti" (Poush is a month in bengali calender). In poush sankranti we have pithe #bengalipithe. The word that comes to mind after hearing the word "pithe" (sweet dumpling) is Ranga Alu #rangaalupantua. Ranga Alu is commonly known as sweet potato. The sweet potato here is orangish in color. Here outside India sweet potato r used in fries and mash.

But here I miss all the sweets so much that I hardly wait for Sankranti to come. I love Ranga Alu r pantua or Rangla Alu r pithe  so much that I often make them on any special occasions. Here I am sharing the recipe with you all.

Ingredients -

  Sweet Potato medium/small sized - 4 to 5

  Rice Flour- 2 tbsp

  All Purpose Flour - 2 tbsp

  Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp

  Mawa / Khoya - 1 cup

  Oil for frying

For the syrup -

   2 cups of water

   1 cups of sugar

   2/3 pods cardamom, bruised

I made the mawa / khoya #mouthwatering at home as here i don't get them. I am including the recipe of Mawa here as well.

Take 1 cup of full fat milk powder in a bowl. Now you need sweet condensed milk. You need to add the condensed milk in the milk powder. As the condensed milk has thick consistency so I didn't measure it with spoon. I added slowly till the mixture of milk powder and condensed milk are like sticky dough.

Microwave the mixture for 1 minute in high temperature. Bring it out stir well and again microwave for 30 sec. The mixture should be hardened a little. Remember not to burn it. The milk easily burns in high temperature. Keep an eye on it. The mawa / khoya is ready. Let it cool down.

In the mean time lets utilize the time to boil the sweet potatoes. I don't peel them as potatoes have the tendency to absorb the water while its boiling. I steam them with skin on so that I can minimize the contact with water. Boil the sweet potatoes till they are soft enough to mash.

  When the sweet potatoes have cooled down, peel and mash them.

Mix the mawa/khoya in the sweet potato mash. Its time to add the binders All purpose flour and Rice flour. Also add the cardamom powder to the mixture.

 After all the things are mixed together make small round dumplings. Make equal sized ball. When complete place the balls in the freezer for approx 10 min. After 10 min, they are now ready for frying. I fried the balls in the batch of 4. The heat should be in medium.

 Keep turning the balls to allow them turn uniformly golden brown. This process will take some time, but do not rush it. When the balls are crisp and uniformly browned, drain them well and place in the syrup. Let them soak for at least 15 to 20 minutes for a light coating and up to 1 hours for a richer deeper sweetness. Here I didn't add to the sugar syrup because I like the fried balls and khoya gives the balls the sweetness.