Langcha

Langcha

Langcha is a sweet. It originated in Shaktighar, West Bengal, India. It is made up of solidified milk (khoya/ mawa), home made cottage cheese  (chana), flour(moida). The ingredients are mixed together and fried and dipped in sugar syrup.

For more information about langcha visit this link  http://itiriti.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/biography-of-langcha-burdwan-or-krishnanagar/

The recipe I used today to make these langcha is my friend Pinki's. She is such a sweetheart, every time she tries something new she always shares with us. Thank you Pinki...

Ingredients for making Langcha:

Home made cottage cheese (Chana/chena): 200 gms
Solidified milk (Khoya/Mawa): 100 gms

Flour (Moida): 2 tbsp

Green cardamom (powdered): 4-5
Oil for frying
Ghee: 1 tbsp
Baking powder: 1/4tsp

For the sugar syrup:

Sugar: 2 cups
Water: 4 cups
Green cardamom:6-7

The steps of making langcha:

1.Take a heavy bottom pan, add water and sugar to make the sugar syrup. Keep the heat to medium and stir well. As the sugar dissolves completely and it boils reduce the heat. If you see any scums, discard that. Those are impurities. Break few green cardamoms and add to the syrup.

2. I used store bought khoya, so I first grated that for easy use, as it come as a hard cake. Mash the grated khoya till smooth on a clean dry plate or on the kitchen slab.

3. Similarly mash the chena till it is smooth. To know the steps for making home made chena go to this link http://colorandspices.blogspot.com/2012/08/chena-poda-sweet-dish-from-orissa.html

4. Mix together the khoya, chana, ghee, baking powder, cardamom powder and 2 tbsp flour. Use your palm to mix all these together. Mix till there is no lumps and the mixture does not stick to you finger. The dough will be grease. you will find your hand and the plate or kitchen slab quite greasy.

5. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and rest it for 10 mins. Make equal size round balls out of the dough. Now shape them into long cylinders, the shape of langcha. Roll the dough with your palms on a plate or kitchen slab to shape them evenly. Make sure that the diameter is even and smooth.

6. Take a kadai or pan, heat oil. When the oil is hot remove the pan from the heat or if you are using a gas oven just turn off the heat, wait for few minutes(1-2min). Add the langcha. Return the pan to heat, keep the heat to lowest possible temperature. Fry the langchas evenly till you get a dark brown color. The langcha will tend to float so keep them dipped in oil  turn for a even cooking. But do not over cook or burn them. As you will fry the langcha they will increase in size so either use a large pan or fry in small batches.

7. Take out the fried langcha on a paper towel lined plate, keep there for 30sec and dip them into hot sugar syrup. The syrup must be hot.

 8. Let it soak for 1hr. You can keep them in the syrup or you can take them out of the syrup and store as dry langcha. But I prefer mine to store in the sugar syrup.

Serve warm and enjoy it with your friends and family. Garnish with grated khoya or chpped dry fruits.