Guyanese Soft Mithai
This easy soft mithai recipe is your childhood in every bite. Perfectly sweet and melts in your mouth. Give this a try and you won't be able to take your hand out of the mithai jar.
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cups cold, salted butter
- 1/4 cup powdered whole milk
- 2 tablespoons custard powder
- 2 teaspoons white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 cup cold evaporated milk
- oil for frying
- 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon mixed essence
Cut the cold butter into cubes and add to a bowl with the flour. Use a pastry blender or fingertips and break up the butter until it looks like breadcrumbs.
To the flour and butter mixture, add powdered milk, custard powder, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Stir together to combine.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add 1/2 cup of cold milk. Mix together using a spatula or spoon. Keep adding milk a little at a time until dough is formed and not sticky.
NOTE: You may NOT use all of your milk.Cover dough and let it sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.
In the meanwhile, add oil to a large, deep, pot for frying. Heat to 325F degrees.
Roll the dough out on a floured surface, about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into long 2 inch strips lengthwise and then cut each strip diagonally into 2-inch pieces.
Fry until golden brown, turning to allow the dough pieces to brown evenly. Remove onto a paper towel to cool.
In a saucepan, add sugar, water, and essence and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer until it begins to thicken and feels a bit sticky.
NOTE: You want it to still be a bit runny so you can get a glaze. If the sugar gets too thick, it will crystallize when it cools, leaving hard bits of sugar on the surface of the mithai.
On a cookie sheet, lay a piece of wax paper or foil.
In a deep bowl, place a few pieces of mithai and spoon some of the hot syrup over them. Toss gently to coat.
Working quickly, use a fork to lift each piece of mithai onto wax paper or foil, allowing any excess syrup to fall off.
- Custard powder can be found in most grocery stores in the baking section.
- Use whole powdered milk and not low fat. Powdered milk can be found at most grocery stores, Indian or Mexican grocers, or online.
- In place of evaporated milk, you can use whole milk or half and half. I don't recommend using low-fat or non-fat milk
- "Mixed Essence" is a combination of pear, almond, and vanilla extract. This is not easily found in the US so I would recommend using almond extract but if you don't have that then vanilla would work.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or refrigerate for up to 7 days.
