Nanda Sahadeo's: Soft Mithai/Kurma

Laktho is a traditional sweet/mithai from Bihar that came with our Ancestors.
I mentioned before with my Mithai/Lakthoe recipe that Mithai literally means Sweet. All Indian sweetmeats are called Mithai. The recipe here is for the soft version of Mithai/Lakhto. Long ago, Muslims generally used to make this and they added eggs to their recipe. These days, Hindus too make these for their Maticore minus the eggs. It is very easy and faster to prepare which may be another reason why Hindus make them now when they have to make large quantities as is done for the Maticore ceremony.

For those using eggs, you can use it instead of whole milk but I have no idea how it will come out--just experiment and see what happens.

Ingredients:

4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 oz butter, softened/room temperature
1 cup grated coconut
3 Tablespoons condensed milk
1/2 cup whole milk (approximately)
10 elachis/cardamon ground
Oil for frying

For Syrup:
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup water

Method:

1.Mix flour and baking powder together.
2. Add the softened butter and incorporate with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse meal.
3.Add the coconut and elachi and incorporate completely.
4. Add the condensed milk and mix thoroughly.
5. Now add the milk a little at a time until it becomes a soft but firm dough.

3.Cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

4. Cut dough into two balls.

5. Roll out one of the balls on a lightly floured board/counter to about 1/3 inch thickness.

6. Cut into 1 inch strips with a sharp knife.

7. Now cut each strip into diamond shaped pieces

8.Heat oil in a pan. When oil is hot but not smoking, add the pieces one at a time. Be very careful as these are very easy to fall apart.
9.Deep fry on medium flame until golden brown on one side then gently turn each piece over and allow to fry again until golden brown.

9. Remove and drain on paper towels.
10.Do the same with the rest of the dough until all is fried.

Now make the syrup:

11. Put the water and sugar into a saucepan and put to boil on a high flame.
12.Stir often as it boils, with a wooden spoon.
13.As it starts to thicken--like honey, dip a spoonful and watch how it flows off of it. Drop some into a glass of water and if it retains it soft ball shape--it is ready.
14. Remove from the heat. You need to be quick now.
15. Now add the syrup a little at a time to the mithai pieces and stir carefully to coat each piece.
16. It will look sticky and you need to turn it over and over for it to dry...just be very gentle and these are very delicate pieces of mithai.