Soft Mithai

Published: Nov 5, 2010 · Modified: Jun 1, 2021 by Alica · 27 Comments

Jump to recipe

My grandmother's mithai is a sweet that makes Hindu holidays feel even more special. Hersoft mithai is made with flour, butter, fresh coconut, anise seed, and evaporated milk. It's fried till golden brown then tossed in a sugar syrup until crystallized.She only made these on Hindu holidays such as Diwali and Holi, and other religious functions. These sweets were just one among many that we enjoyed during auspicious times of year. We also made peera, a crunchy mithai/kurma, and parsad. It was a fun time and I loved spending time with my mom and grandma in the kitchen. It was a sort of bonding time that I've come to truly appreciate as an adult.Now that she lives in India and I live in upstate NY, if I want these delicious treats, I have to make them myself. I decided that I was only going to make two different sweets this year. My family would make 5-6 different kinds, but what would I do with all that sugary goodness in my house? I decided to make this mithai and a milk powder peera (see end of post).

Every Diwali my mom used to make so many tasty sweet treats. We would package and give them away to friends and family members. Likewise our family members would send over little bags filled with mithai, peera, and parsad.

Method:

I made a trip to Michael's Arts and Crafts store. Altogether I only spent $9 for all the materials. I bought metallic gold paper bags with a beautiful burgundy ribbon, very festive. I think they turned out amazing, what do you think?

I packaged the sweets in tiny Ziploc bags to seal in the freshness.

Yield: About 50 Small Pieces

Ingredients

*For the Dough
4 cups flour
1 tsp white sugar
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1 cup freshly grated coconut
1 ½ sticks butter, chopped
3 tsp anise seed
1 12oz tin evaporated milk
Vegetable or canola oil for frying
*For the sugar syrup:
1 cup white granulated sugar
¾ cup water
½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions

Mix the flour, baking powder, anise seed, and chopped butter together. Keep mixing by hand until the dough is crumbly or you can put everything into a food processor. Add coconut to the dough and mix well.
Pour entire can of evaporated milk into the mixture and knead to form a dough ball. Add flour/ water if needed, to bring everything together. Cover with a damp paper towel and set aside and let it sit for about 30-40 minutes. (the damp napkin keeps the dough from forming a crust)
Place dough ball on counter/cutting board and cut dough into quarters. Work with one quarter at a time. Sprinkle flour on the working space and roll the quarter with a rolling pin to about ¾ in thickness. If you roll it thinner your mithai wont be as thick and soft but rather more crunchy, if that is how you prefer it then roll it thinner.
In a pot, fill oil ⅓ of the way up the pot and let oil heat on medium-low.
In the meantime cut mithai into little diamond shapes and set aside till ready for frying.
The temperature of the oil should be around 280 degrees. Test one mithai to see if it is cooked all the way through before frying the entire batch.
Once the oil is ready, place mithai in oil and let it cook slowly, keep turning to brown evenly on both sides. Cook all the mithai and set aside in a pot or bowl big enough to toss with the syrup.
Combine sugar, water, and vanilla, if using. Boil on low for about 35 minutes, or longer depending on your stove. Test sugar in water to see if it has reached the "soft ball" stage. Read this recipe to learn how to test for the soft ball stage.
When sugar is ready, pour over mithai and toss until sugar is no longer clear and has become white.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag Alica's Pepperpot on social media to share your work!

MILK POWDER PEERA

I made these and added some extra cardamom, it turned out wonderful.

I did not write a post about these delicious peeras, but you can get the recipe at Manjula's Kitchen.

Give this mithai a try and let me know how you liked it!

Spread the love

« Homemade Chocolate Truffles

Caribbean Chicken Soup »

Reader Interactions

Comments

Anonymous
November 05, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Looks Delicious!!! I just might try it this afternoon!! I love love the bags!! I may have to steal your idea for Nicholas's Jhandee!! Ravena
See Also
Portuguese Egg Tart Recipe - Tasting Table Libum or Cato’s Honey Cake Vegan Eggs Benedict-A Hollandaise Sauce to Blow Your Mind! - Megan Kerry Chia Egg Replacer » LeelaLicious
Reply
Cynthia
November 07, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Happy Diwali!
Your grand mother's mithai makes me wish I was in Guyana right now. I am definitely going to give your mithai recipe a try - when I have company to help me eat it otherwise, it could be dangerous having those morels of sweet fried dough around the house 🙂
Quick question for confirmation, the cup measurements you referred to are measuring cups right?
Reply
Ms. Gourmet Express
November 07, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Hi Cynthia!!
I was patiently awaiting your post yesterday and finally I saw those beautiful peeras!! I wish I could have eaten the computer screen!
Also, yes, I am referring to measuring cups. I called my grandmother for this recipe and she said, put two pot spoons of sugar for the syrup and I said "grandma no one measures things that way." Old ladies never use measuring cups, I guess they just know the measurements from their heads!
I hope you try the recipe, let me know how it turns out.
Best,
Alica
Reply
Daal House Girl
February 19, 2013 at 9:11 pm
Wow! I just finished making the Soft Mithai and it is wonderful on a rainy afternoon. My twist was adding a piece of fresh orange peel to the syrup as it boiled and a few cardamom seeds to the dough. Yum, yum. I am happy. Thank you very much.
Reply
Daal House Girl
February 20, 2013 at 4:19 am
Forgot to mention that I used Flavor Mate Vanilla Essence (200 ml for $2.75) made in Guyana. Not meaning to plug a particular brand but I have to. This "Tastes (just) Like Home! (Hi Cynthia). http://www.littleguyanabakeshop.com/grocery.php?catid=4&page=4
Reply
Amelia H
November 10, 2015 at 12:21 pm
Alica,
I've been using your recipes for a few years now and I've only just read the "About" section of your blog, shame on me! You're a beautiful woman by the way! I just wanted to say thank you for such a great service, not favor, but a service. I suppose I never really thought about how much hard work goes into preparing these recipes and taking pictures and then having to blog about it all--for FREE! So thank you, thank you for the amazing job you do and for these fantastic recipes. I'm sure there are hundreds of West Indians out there (Guyanese in particular) who are looking for recipes and would like instructions a bit more specific than "a pot spoon of this" or "lil bit ah dat" or my personal favorite "some"!
Now, about these mithai, they turned out GREAT! Thank you once again for a fantastic recipe, only one thing went wrong! Guess who burned their finger with hot sugary syrup? This girl right here 🙁 I got a little over enthusiastic! Anyways, I can proudly have my dad share it with his coworkers tomorrow for Diwali. I'll sit here while this burn ointment does its job and peruse your other recipes! 😉
Love and best wishes,
Amelia H
Reply
- Alica
  June 07, 2017 at 5:19 pm
  Amelia,
  I am SO late in replying to your message, I'm not sure how I missed it! Sheesh! Thank you so much for your kind comments. It is indeed a lot of work and a long process to getting one recipe posted, but this is my passion and I am so happy to share my family's recipes with the world. Really glad to hear the recipe turned out well. I will let my grandmother know, she'll be happy to hear that! And so sorry to hear about your burning your finger! That's definitely happened to me!
  Reply
annmarie jones
December 03, 2015 at 3:55 am
I'm making these tomorrow, thanks alot. My grate grandma made these but she's gone to better place now so I didn't get the recipe. Thanks alot. I'm dreading the coconut grating lol
Reply
1977juliet
February 15, 2016 at 9:29 pm
See Also
Rendering Fats at Home Primer, Lesson One
I love mithai. Thank you for sharing your grandma's recipe.
Reply
Kamal
July 04, 2016 at 1:42 pm
Hi Alica, I have your recipe several times and it looks perfect. Really nice of you taking all that trouble to get the recipe. Small or big question, how long do you fry mothers? With a 3/4" thick dough, I am guessing 4 minutes.
Reply
- Kamal Fazil
  September 02, 2017 at 12:31 pm
  Hi there Alicia, love your little details, helps in making a an excellent product. I was wondering how long would you fry the mithai? I usually go for 5 minutes but I feel it is too long and then again, I don't want half cooked mithai
  Reply
Savita Brijram
July 25, 2016 at 4:19 am
Hi, I am Savita I just want to say a few about your Grandma's Mithai. I love your grandma's Mithai recipe. And I love Mithai as well. I try the recipe today and it turn out just perfect. And I must say your Grandma's Mithai recipe is perfect. I love it and it's so amazing that you share it with so many people. It's so delicious and I also share a few of it with families and friends and they love it. That's so so amazing. Thanks to your Grandma and also thanks to you.
Reply
Savita Brijram
November 07, 2016 at 12:36 am
Hi, I am Savita and I just want to say a few about your Grandma's Mithai. I love your Grandma's Mithai recipe and I love Mithai as well. Your Grandma's Mithai recipe is perfect and amazing. Today I try your Grandma's Mithai recipe and it turn our just perfect and it's delicious, I also share some with families and friends and they love it. Thanks to your Grandma and also thanks to you for sharing the recipes with so many people.
Reply
Kamal Fazil
September 02, 2017 at 12:29 pm
Hi there Alicia, love your little details, helps in making a an excellent product. I was wondering how long would you fry the mithai? I usually go for 5 minutes but I feel it is too long and then again, I don't want half cooked mithai
Reply
JudyB
October 18, 2017 at 7:30 pm
Hi Alica,
I tried this recipe for the first time today for Divali. My partner in crime was a friend from Guyana. We forgot to put the sugar in the dough but it still turned out great. The texture is so light and buttery...I couldn't stop eating them! Had to give half away...too much sweet doughy goodness in the house. Love these!!!
Reply
Mary
July 09, 2018 at 9:25 pm
Dying to try this. Been a favourite for my childhood.
Reply
Allison
October 13, 2018 at 12:55 am
Hi Alica thank you for sharing your grandma's recipe it was awesome my family and friends enjoyed it. I once ordered some from an indian restaurant in queens but was very disappointed as was nothing like I remembered so I stayed away but tried your recipe and loved it. Will do it again.
Thx
Reply
Marie
October 28, 2018 at 1:30 am
Hi Alica,
Hope all's well. Just one question, can coconut powder in the packet be used here instead of freshly grated coconut?
Reply
- Alica
  October 30, 2018 at 11:42 pm
  Hi Marie,
  Hmm I've never tried that, but I say give it a go and let us know how it turns out!
  Reply
Sathya
November 23, 2018 at 4:20 am
Hi thanks for the wonderful recipe but for butter it is how many kilograms we don't have butter sticks.
Reply
Sao
May 07, 2019 at 10:01 am
Alicia, you're certainly Google translate for all west indian mothers/grandmothers!
All my life it's been "a handful of this, a bit of that, and some of this". Much thanks to you I can now make lots of the recipes I feared in the past.
I'd like to try the soft mithai but would prefer to make a smaller"half" batch.
May I ask if you can kindly suggest the measurement of ingredients to use - I know enough to not just divide everything in half - LOL
Reply
Vimla Hare
August 23, 2023 at 2:01 pm
Hi, I made these and they were delicious. Can I fry these ahead of time and put the syrup on later?
Reply
- Alica
  August 24, 2023 at 5:21 pm
  Hi Vimla, yes you can make it ahead of time and add the syrup later, but I would recommend you do it all in one day to maintain freshness.
  Reply
Ananda
November 11, 2023 at 12:27 pm
Tried this recipe back in 2020 for the very 1st time. It was delicious.
Tried again the following year.
And this year 2023 I'm trying it again today for the Diwali season.
As a Guyanese with indian in my blood , I enjoy sweet meats. Especially this mathai even the Pera.
Thank you Alica for sharing with us. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Reply
- Alica
  November 22, 2023 at 10:50 am
  Hi Ananda! I'm so happy to hear this recipe made it to 2023 for you, haha! Thanks for your comment :).
  Reply
Nicole
November 17, 2023 at 4:32 pm
Hi, can we freeze half the dough and fry it later?
Reply
- Alica
  November 22, 2023 at 10:44 am
  Hi there, yes you can. On the day you decide to fry, take it out of the freezer to thaw and let it come to room temperature.
  Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Soft Mithai - Alica's Pepperpot (2024)