Bengali Lyangcha Shaktigarh Milk Sweet Fried

Method

1. 1

   Make the sugar syrup: Boil sugar and water for 5 minutes to a thin syrup — not 1-string, just dissolved and slightly reduced. Add cardamom and saffron. Keep warm.

2. 2

   Make the lyangcha dough: Crumble khoya finely. Add maida, baking powder and salt. Mix with fingers until a smooth, soft dough forms. Do not knead too vigorously or the lyangcha becomes tough.

3. 3

   Shape into cylinders: Divide into 20 portions. Roll each between palms into a smooth cylinder about 6 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter — slightly pointed at each end. The cylindrical shape is the defining characteristic.

4. 4

   Heat oil on low to medium: Heat oil in a kadai on medium-low. Lyangcha requires slow frying at a lower temperature than most fried sweets — the heat must penetrate the centre without burning the outside.

5. 5

   Fry on low heat: Add 6 to 8 lyangcha at a time. Fry on medium-low heat for 5 to 6 minutes, turning constantly and gently, until deep golden-brown all over. The slow, thorough frying gives the characteristic dark colour.

6. 6

   Check: Cut one open — the centre should be cooked through, not raw. If the outside is dark but inside is raw, the oil was too hot.

7. 7

   Drain briefly: Remove and place on paper towels for 30 seconds.

8. 8

   Soak in warm syrup: Transfer the still-hot lyangcha into the warm sugar syrup. They should be submerged. Soak for 20 to 30 minutes — the fried dumplings absorb the syrup slowly.

9. 9

   Turn once during soaking.

10. 10

    Serve: The finished lyangcha should be golden-brown outside, syrup-soaked, soft throughout with a distinct khoya flavour. Serve at room temperature.

11. 11

    Note: Lyangcha is inextricably associated with Shaktigarh, a town on NH-2 (the Grand Trunk Road) about 100 km from Kolkata near Bardhaman. Travellers on this route traditionally stop at Shaktigarh specifically to buy lyangcha from the hundreds of sweet shops that line the highway. The town has given its name to a regional sweet to the extent that lyangcha is now known across Bengal as a Shaktigarh specialty, though it is made in sweet shops throughout the state.