Lapsiલાપસી
Broken wheat roasted in ghee and cooked with jaggery. In Gujarati homes it is the first sweet made on an auspicious day, and it is far less fussy than it looks.
Ingredients
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- 1 cup broken wheat (fada)
- ½ cup ghee
- ¾ cup grated jaggery
- 3 cups hot water
- ½ tsp cardamom powder
- Cashews, almonds, raisins
Method
- Roast the broken wheat in ghee on low heat for 8-10 minutes until golden.
- Add the hot water, cover and cook 15-20 minutes until the grains are soft.
- Lower the heat, add the jaggery and stir until it melts.
- Mix in the cardamom and dry fruit and rest 5 minutes.
- Serve hot with a spoon of ghee on top.
Tips
- Don't add jaggery to a hard boil; lower the heat first.
- It also works in a pressure cooker, about 3 whistles.
Storing and reheating
Lapsi is at its best hot. As it cools the ghee sets and the grains clump together. Covered at room temperature it lasts eight to ten hours, and three days in the fridge. Reheat on low heat with two or three tablespoons of hot water or milk stirred in; reheated dry, it turns hard and gritty. Add a spoon of fresh ghee on top.
What you can swap
- Sugar will work if you have no jaggery, but the result tastes closer to sheera. The colour and the smell of jaggery are what make lapsi lapsi.
- Resist cutting the ghee, but if you must, go no lower than a quarter cup. Below that the grains do not roast properly and the lapsi tastes pasty.
- If broken wheat is unavailable, semolina works, but then you are making sheera. Roast semolina for only five minutes and halve the water.
- A pinch of nutmeg or saffron alongside the cardamom is good. Both suit jaggery. Do not use all three together.
What to serve with it
This is a dish for auspicious occasions, made for birthdays, good news, moving into a new home, or a Satyanarayan katha. Traditionally it goes on the thali with dal, rice, rotli and a vegetable, eaten as part of the meal rather than as dessert afterwards. Many homes serve fried puri and curd alongside.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not wash the broken wheat. Wet grains steam instead of roasting in the ghee, and the lapsi turns sticky and lumpy.
- Do not raise the heat while roasting. Eight to ten minutes on low with constant stirring. Grains burnt outside and raw inside give you hard specks all through the lapsi.
- Never add cold water. Use boiling water, or the ghee and grain seize into lumps you cannot break up afterwards.
- Do not keep stirring after the water goes in. Cover it and let the steam do the work. Over-stirred lapsi loses its separate grains and goes gluey.
Questions people ask
Why did my lapsi come out lumpy?
Usually cold water, or all the water poured in at once. Use boiling water, and stir with one hand while you pour with the other. If lumps have already formed, press them apart with the back of the spoon.
What is the difference between lapsi and sheera?
Lapsi is made with coarse broken wheat, so the grains stay separate, and it is sweetened with jaggery. Sheera is made with fine semolina and sugar, which makes it smooth and uniform. The method is similar but the taste and the look are quite different.
Can I use milk instead of water?
Half milk and half water works and gives a richer lapsi. With all milk there is a risk of curdling when the jaggery goes in, so drop the heat right down before adding it and keep stirring.
