To make chhena/fresh paneer, pour milk in a saucepan and bring to boil. Add lemon juice and stir. The milk should curdle immediately. Strain it in a muslin cloth or cheesecloth over colander. Bring the ends of cloth together and tie it. Hang it somewhere so that it can drain all the water out. This should take about an hour.

Once done, mix the fresh chhena with flour, cardamom powder, salt and baking soda. Knead to form smooth dough. If it’s too watery, add more flour. Cover the dough with a damp cloth or kitchen towel and allow it to rest for a while.

In the meantime, make the sugar syrup. In a saucepan, add sugar and water. Then, add saffron threads along with the cloves. Bring it to a boil and allow it to darken. The syrup shouldn’t be too watery or too sticky.

Once the syrup and dough is ready, heat enough oil in a pan to deep fry the malpuas. Make sure the oil is medium hot or else, the malpuas with burn as soon you drop them.

Take a lump of around 1-teaspoon from the dough and flatten it using your hand or a rolling pin. Don’t make it too thin or too thick. Drop it in medium hot oil and let it fry until golden brown. Once done, dip it immediately in the hot syrup and allow it to float.

Once all the malpuas are ready, keep them floating in the sugar syrup. If you are not serving it immediately, refrigerate it. And before serving, heat it in the microwave. It tastes best when it’s warm.