DISH RESEARCH · Dessert

Pantua

Madhushree Basu Roy’s selected pantua uses chhana dough filled with khowa and cardamom, deep-fried in ghee and soaked in sugar syrup.

About Pantua

Research draft based on the references below. These notes describe particular recipes and presentations; ingredient connections are still being reviewed.

Madhushree Basu Roy’s pantua is a Bengali chhana-based sweet, shaped into balls, deep-fried and soaked in sugar syrup. Her selected version fills the balls with a little khowa and a cardamom seed.

The chhana is made by boiling full-cream milk and adding lemon juice. The curds are strained through muslin, squeezed and weighted to drain before they are mashed for the dough.

Semolina, all-purpose flour and ghee are mixed into the chhana. The dough is kneaded smooth, with more semolina and flour added only if it is extremely sticky.

The cardamom seeds are removed from their pods, and the khowa is grated and mashed into small pieces. Each portion of dough is flattened, filled with khowa and a cardamom seed, then sealed into a smooth round ball.

The balls are placed in just-warm ghee and fried slowly on medium heat, turning to brown all sides. They are transferred to the prepared sugar syrup and left to soak before serving.

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Dish type: Dessert
Preparation: Read the preparation
Boil the full-cream milk, add juice from the listed lemons and turn off the heat, adding more of the same juice if needed for curdling. Strain through muslin, squeeze and weight the curds to drain. Prepare the sugar and named water as a syrup and set aside. Mash the chhana, add semolina, all-purpose flour and the dough portion of ghee, and knead smooth. If extremely sticky, add the directed extra semolina and flour. Remove cardamom seeds from their pods; grate and mash the khowa and form tiny filling balls. Flatten small portions of dough, enclose a khowa ball and cardamom seed, and seal into smooth balls. Fry in batches in the separate ghee, starting when it is just warm and keeping medium heat while turning the balls to brown evenly. Transfer to the same prepared sugar syrup and let them soak before serving.

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Ingredients in Pantua

Recorded ingredient connections, rather than a complete recipe. Explore an ingredient for more detail.

Ingredient connections are still being added.

Ingredient connections awaiting review. Versions and preparation vary.

Origins & food traditions

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Countries

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Cuisines & regions

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Associations in the cited sources

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Cooking traditions: Bengali

Sources & references

Pantua — The Bengali Gulab Jamun but it’s Different