Lobongo Lotika | Bengali Sweet Bhaja Patishapta Recipe
Lobongo Lotika, also known as Laung Latika is a classic Bengali sweetmeat where a pastry dough envelops a stuffing made of milk solid known as kheer. The folds are sealed using a lobongo or a clove before they are deep-fried and dunked in thick sugar syrup. This Bengali sweet recipe of lobongo lotika gives you the perfect crunchy texture on the outside with a juicy and rich centre.
Servings 8 pieces
Equipment
- Heavy bottom Non-stick Pan
- Sauce Pan
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 100 gms Khowa or Khoya
- 2 tbsp Jaggery powder alternate would be brown sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 Black Cardamom
- 8 Cloves
- 1 cup All-purpose Flour
- 3 tbsp Ghee alternate would be butter or normal unflavoured oil like sunflower oil, canola oil, etc
- Oil to deep fry
- 1 cup Sugar for thick sugar syrup
- ⅓ cup Water
Instructions
- Crumble the khowa and add grated jaggery and crushed powder of Black Cardamom seeds. Be very mindful of the amount of the spice here because it can get overpowering. Transfer this to a heavy bottom non-stick pan and cook it on very low heat. Let the milk solid and jaggery melt. As it becomes smooth, turn off the heat. Using a teaspoon, you can divide it into equal 8 portions. Allow it to cool down.100 gms Khowa or Khoya, 2 tbsp Jaggery powder, 1 Black Cardamom
- Combine the all-purpose flour, ghee/oil, a pinch of salt and water to knead a tight dough. Divide it into 8 equal portions. Take one of them and roll it into a circular disc of 1/8th of an inch thickness. The diameter should be somewhere around 3.5 inches. Place one portion of filling right at the centre and fold it as shown here. Turn it over and give another fold before pushing a clove right at the centre to fasten all the folds together.1 cup All-purpose Flour, 3 tbsp Ghee, 8 Cloves
- Drop them in warm oil and allow them to fry till they turn golden. The oil should not be hot, and not absolutely cold either. We want to fry them in a gently warm oil so that each layer of the dough gets cooked evenly. If the oil is too hot, you will see the outer crust turning golden quickly whereas the inner layers would remain uncooked.Oil to deep fry
- Meanwhile, prepare the thick sugar syrup till you get double string when pressed between two fingers.1 cup Sugar, ⅓ cup Water
- Once they are fried into golden, take them out of the oil and drop them into the warm sugar syrup. Allow them to dip for a couple of seconds before taking them out and placing them on a wire rack. As it cools down, the sugar syrup crystallizes and makes the exterior crunchy. Serve when they have cooled down completely.
Video
Notes
How to make Instant Homemade Khowa using Milk Powder at home?
Ingredients for instant khowa
- 1 cup Milk Powder
- ½ cup Fresh Cream Full Fat
- ¼ cup Milk Full Fat
- 2 tbsp Ghee or Clarified Butter
Recipe Instructions to make instant khowa
- Take a non-stick heavy bottom pan and keep it on medium-low flame.
- Add the ghee, milk and fresh cream. Stir
- Add the sugar and mix.
- Now, add the milk powder and whisk so that it doesn’t form lumps. If it does, just try to mash them with the back of your spoon.
- Keep stirring for the next 10-15 minutes while mashing the lumps (if any) with the back of your spatula/spoon. Soon you will see that it is has reduced in the quantity.
- Keep stirring till it leaves the sides of the pan and makes a smooth dough ball.
- Turn off the heat and take it out on a plate.
- Allow it to cool down.