Makar Sankranti Celebration

In Bengal, Poush Sankranti is celebrated as a harvest festival- Poush Parbon. A grand fair called Gangasagar Mela is observed on the bank of river Hooghly.  It is considered to be the largest Mela in West Bengal. This year Gangasagar Mela will commence on January 12th, 2011 and will last till January 15th, 2011. On this occasion Hindu pilgrims from various places gather at Sagardwip, West Bengal where the holy river Ganga connects with the Bay of Bengal. Ganga originates from Gangotri and flows all through the Himalayas, Haridwar, Benaras.
  Poush Parbon or Makar Sankranti is celebrated in most of the Bengali homes by preparing a wide variety of sweets and desserts, known as “pithey-paayesh”. In this days our mother and grandmother made some special pithas like puli pitha,patisapta,malpua, payesh with khejur gur ( kheer with palm jiggery)
  These wonderful sweets are made of rice flour, coconut, milk, sweet potatoes, palm jaggery (khejurer gur). Friends and families are invited to celebrate this festival by doing Mishti Mukh with these mouth watering and sumptuous dishes. Gifts are exchanged. Children fly kites and wear new clothes and begin their Bengali Year in a marvellous way. Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped on this special occasion.

 Malpoa

Ingredients:

Flour - 1 cup

Sooji (Semolina) - 1cup

Milk - 1 cup ( as needed)

Fennel (Mouri/Saunf) seeds- 1/2 tsp

Coconut - 1/2 cup grated or finely chopped

Oil - 2 cups (for deep frying)

For Syrup:

Sugar - 2 cups

Water - 2 cups

Green Cardamom - 3(crushed)

Method :

• In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients except oil. Using your hands, make a smooth batter free of lumps. use milk as needed to make a semi-thick batter,little thicker than pakora batter.
• Meantime, in a wide pan, prepare sugar syrup, adding cups sugar in 2 cups of water and let come to boil. Add crushed green cardamoms and Simmer for 8-10 minutes. Note : remember syrup thickens when cooled so do not boil to a thick consistency. Heat the oil to smoking in a wide pan/kadhai. Turn the flame down to medium. Using a ladle, pour in a full measure of the batter in a form of small circle of 3" diameter into the oil. Fry for approximately 3-4 minutes until deep brown on medium heat, so the batter can cook through. Flip over and fry other side to deep brown
• Remove and add directly to the hot sugar syrup, boil them for 3-4 minutes in syrup and then take them out. Meantime, fry another batch of malpoas and dip in sugar syrup.

 Tips : If your syrup dries a bit during process, add some more water and sugar if required. But don't let syrup thicken much