Eat n Eat little More: Saatu/Badusha/Balushahi/Flaky Indian Doughnut

I'm in love with the way the badusha sweet is made in my native by renowned cooks. Our subcaste is much particular about the way and the type of sweets that are prepared during functions, every small function calls for 2-3 sweets in the menu. 'Saatu' as called in our native local language is a different name given to Badusha sweet of South India or Balushahi as called in Northern parts of India.
I still remember the days when I heard from many elders that it is a sweet which could be prepared well only by experienced cooks, but no wonder though a beginner I could very well manage doing this sweet though it was the first attempt.
I had observed this time the way it was prepared in a small function at our home by our family cook who cooks usually for some occasions in our family.I followed exact measurements though his preparation was for large number of saatu,by reducing all quantities accordingly so that I needn't worry if anything goes wrong.
It is a flaky melt in mouth crispy sweet glazed with sugar coating. It tastes heavenly and let me not drag you more and take you straight to the sinful dessert recipe that I followed.

Ingredients: (Makes 10 saatu)
For dough:
All purpose flour/maida-1 1/2 cup
Cardamom-2 pods
Ghee-1/4 cup
Water-1/4-1/2 cup(use accordingly)

Oil to deep fry

For sugar syrup:
Sugar-3/4 cup
Water-1/4 cup

Recipe:

In a bowl take all purpose flour.
To that add 2 pods of cardamom, just add the cardamom after removing the skin, do not powder the cardamom.
Heat ghee till you get aroma and it is hot enough to cook the flour little.
Now add melted hot ghee to the flour.
Mix well using spoon and then use your hands once it is cool enough to handle.
They then take the form of breadcrumbs.
Once done, add water little by little and mix them together to form a soft dough. Please take much care as not to knead the dough but just mix the flour mixture with enough water to take the shape of dough.Also take care that dough doesn't become sticky .So use water carefully little by little.
Let it rest on the counter for 20-30 mins and then pinch off small balls out of the dough mixture.
Flatten them little in between your palms.
Heat oil in a deep bottom pan and deep fry the flattened small balls in a medium heat for around 20-25 minutes till they get cooked well inside.
Once done transfer them into kitchen towel and let them cool down completely.
Once fully cooled you should proceed with preparing sugar syrup for which you need to add sugar in a deep bottom pan, add water to it and bring it to a boil and check for single thread consistency.
Once that consistency is achieved remove it off the heat and let it cool down little but yet it should be warm. To that throw in the fried saatu and let the sugar syrup coat them well.
Then transfer them to a plate or any tray and let it cool down completely.
Once cooled they can be stored in airtight container for around 10 days and with refrigeration it could stay even for 20-25 days.

Note:

Do not powder cardamom as that will discolor saatu.
Do not knead the dough as kneading will form gluten and with the formation of gluten the sweet will become chewy one and the flaky texture will not be seen in the sweet.
Do not fry in extreme hot oil as that way the outer layer of the flattened saatu cooks well and not the inner portion.
Before putting them to sugar syrup they should cool down completely or else they will become soggy or soft.
Sugar syrup consistency could be checked by placing a drop of the hot syrup in between your index finger and thumb and pull apart, if you could see a single thread like structure forming then the single thread consistency is achieved.
The sugar syrup shouldn't be too hot nor too cold while coating the saatu as the coating will not stay if it is too hot and also the coating will become very thick if it cools much.So the right temperature is when the syrup is warm.
Following the measurements and also the note written, one cannot go wrong even during the first attempt.