Badusha is a traditional South Indian sweet fondly relished during festivals and special occasions. One of the mainstays in South Indian weddings. In North India, it is known as Balushahi.

As per the traditional method, Badusha is prepared using a dough made of maida, ghee or butter.  Shaped like thick disc, it is deep fried in oil or ghee on a slow heat. Then it is soaked briefly in elaichi and kesar flavoured sugar syrup. The texture of badusha is soft, luscious inside and flaky on the outside. 

Well-made Badusha melts in the mouth and tastes delectable making it a popular sweet in the country. Often it is known as the Indian version of glazed donuts. But except for the shape, the texture and taste of Badusha entirely differs from donut.

This recipe is all about skipping the deep frying part and air frying the Badushas with very little amount of fat. With few changes in the process, we can achieve the same texture and taste as that of the conventional deep frying method.

How to Air Fry Badusha?

Preparing Badusha in Air Fryer is very simple. Less time-consuming too. The end result is remarkable. Flaky, melt-in-the-mouth Badusha tastes extremely wonderful with very little ghee being used in the process.

Air fryer cooking considered as a healthy option in recent times. Reason being, with the help of hot air technique food can be grilled, baked or roasted with very minimal fat as compared to the conventional methods. As I explore more and more the usage of Air fryer, for certain daily recipes I find Air frying gives better results than using oven. The rapid hot air circulation over the food in Air fryer prevents it from dehydrating. While retaining the natural moisture of the food, it also makes it crisp and crunch to perfection.

Temperature and timing varies by 2 or 3 counts in various Air fryer models. Below given cooking time and temperature are as per Philips Air fryer.

I always follow low temperatures initially to have the food cooked fully and then gradually increase the heat to make it crisp, crunchy or flaky.

Few tricks to get perfect Air fryer Badusha

• Dough consistency should be softer than it is made in traditional method.
• Warm milk is used to mix the dough (in traditional method cold water is used).
• Resting time for dough is essential, min 30 mins to 1 hr max.
• Badushas need to be cooled down to room temperature before soaking them in sugar syrup.
• Soaking time is more compared to conventional method.
•  The sugar syrup needs to be lukewarm (in traditional method, it is dipped in hot syrup)

The given recipe yields 12 medium-sized Badushas. Total time taken to air fry them is 11 minutes excluding the preheating time.

Here’s the recipe for Air Fryer Badusha..

Ingredients

• Maida/All Purpose Flour – 1 ¼ cup
• Sugar – 1 tbsp
• Curd – 1 tbsp
• Ghee – 3 tbsp
• Baking Powder – ¼ tsp
• Baking Soda – 1/8 tsp
• Salt a pinch
• Warm Milk to knead

For Syrup

• Sugar – 1 cup
• Water – ½ cup
• Elaichi Powder – 1 tsp
• Saffron Strands – few

Method

For the dough:

• Take maida, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Give a mix.
• Add ghee. Using the tip of fingers mix them gently without putting any pressure.
• Combine till the flour resembles bread crumbs. (When you hold a handful of dough in your palms it should form shape and when you leave, it should crumble. That’s the right consistency).
• Add curd. Mix well again.
• Using warm milk combine and bring together everything to form a soft dough. Do not knead.
• Keep it covered and let it rest for min 30 minutes.

For the Syrup:

• In a flat bottomed vessel, add sugar and water. Stir till sugar gets dissolved.
• Remove the scum(dirt) if any in the syrup by adding few drops of milk.
• Boil the sugar syrup and bring it to ½ string (sticky) consistency.
• Add elaichi powder and saffron strands. Mix well. Remove from heat.
• Keep it aside covered.
• Let it cool as the syrup needs to be just warm enough to soak the badushas.

Shaping the Badushas:

• Take a lemon-sized dough, gently roll it between your palms.
• Give little pressure and flatten them slightly to give a thick disc-like shape.
• Using your thumb create a depression at the centre.
• Place it on a plate covered with clean kitchen towel.
• Likewise finish shaping the entire batch. Let is sit for 10 mins.

Air Frying the Badushas:

• Step 1: Preheat the air fryer at 200C for 2 mins.
• Step 2: Slightly grease the frying basket with ghee.
• Step 3: Place the badushas leaving enough space around them for even circulation of hot air.
• Step 4: Brush the badushas with melted ghee.
• Step 5: Air fry them at 180C for 8 mins with 2 mins intervals (open and check at every 2 mins).
• They would have turned pale colour at this step.
• Step 6: Slightly increase the heat and air fry them at 185C for 2 mins.
• Brush the badushas with melted ghee thoroughly. Ghee gets absorbed by hot badushas at once.
• Step 7: Again air fry them at 185C for a minute. This is done to get nice crispy golden top layer.
• Remove from the frying basket.
• Bring it to room temperature before soaking them in sugar syrup.

Final step to get flaky, melt-in-the-mouth Badushas..

• Place the badushas in the warm sugar syrup. Let them soak for 30 mins.
• Gently flip the badushas once so that both the sides gets steeped in sugar syrup.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer badushas to a serving tray or a clean dry container.
• It stays good for 4 to 5 days at room temperature. (in extreme hot and humid weather, refrigerate after 1 or 2 days).

Notes

• Garnishing is optional. You can garnish the badushas with chopped nuts, dried rose petals or sweetened desiccated coconut.
• As a variation, combination of nuts, dried fruits and mawa can be stuffed in them.
• Badushas needs to be cooled down to room temperature before soaking them in sugar syrup.
• The prepared sugar syrup needs to be warm and not hot.
• If sugar syrup crystalizes, add little amount of water and warm it on low heat.

For more Traditional Sweets and Savouries please check Badam Halwa, Mysore Pak, Boondi Laddu, Wheat Halwa, Kesar Bhapa Doi, Rasgulla, Microwave Kesar Coconut Burfi, Kai Murukku, Minapa Sunnundalu and Makkan Peda.

Happy Cooking!