Panasa Thonnalu-A traditional Andhra Sweet

Panasa Thonnalu is a traditional Andhra  festive sweet which is in a jackfruit bulb shape.Panasa thonalu means jackfruit bulb in Telugu and in some places it is called as Flower Kaja
This is a very simple and easy to make sweet in which a poori is made out of the dough,cut and shaped into a jackfruit bulb.Then it is deep fried in the oil and dipped in the sugar syrup.
I had this sweet very first time in one of my friends palace and her mom made this delicacy.It was so delicious and liked the shape of the sweet which is very new to me.
When I made this sweet for first time something went wrong with the sugar syrup consistency and used little amount of ghee,it was not crispy.I tried couple of times after my first trial and it came out perfect.Here goes the recipe ................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Maida/All purpose flour	11/2cup
Ghee/nei	3tbs
Salt	1/8tsp
Sugar	11/2cups
Cardamom powder/ellakai	1/2tsp(optional)
Oil	for frying

Method

                           Take maida in a bowl,to this add the salt and ghee.Mix it with the fingers till it becomes crumbly.Gradually add water to this and a make a firm dough and keep it aside.

Meanwhile mix the sugar with 1/2cup of water and cook it in a medium flame till it reaches single thread consistency and set it aside.Divide the dough into small ball(size of gooseberry) and roll into a thin poori.Now with a sharp knife into strips leaving both sides intact (as shown in the picture).

Gently roll the poori from one edge and twist the sides and keep it on a plate.Heat the oil in a medium flame and fry 3-4 pieces in the oil it becomes crisp and golden color.

Remove it from the oil and drain it on a paper towel.Once it becomes cool down drop it in the sugar syrup and keep it on a plate to get the crystallizes.

Store it in an air tight container.

Enjoy....................................

• Roll the poori as thin as possible to get a crispy panasa thonnalu.
• Do not keep the shaped panasa thonnalu for a long time as it tends to stick and it doesnot hold the shape.
• After dropping the oil the size will expand so be fry only 3 or 4 pieces at a time.
• If the sugar consistency becomes thick after cooling add a tbs of water and heat it again.
• Instead of dropping it in the sugar syrup powdered sugar can be sprinkled as soon as take out from the oil.
• After dipping it in the sugar syrup arrange it on a plate in a single layer,do not stack it otherwise it will stick to each other.