The first thing you need to do is make the syrup. You can always make it a day in advance. In a heavy-bottomed pan, mix all three ingredients for the syrup and keep it on medium-low heat. Keep stirring from time to time. Bring it to boil and then again let it remain on heat till it reaches a syrupy yet pouring consistency. Take it off the heat and let it cool down.
The next step is to make the filling. This step also could be done well in advance. To make stuffing, in a wok mix the grated coconut with grated jaggery and keep it on low flame. Keep stirring so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Let the jaggery or gur melt and mix with the coconut. Add milk powder towards the end. It helps in binding and making it sticky.
The filling has to become a bit sticky and that’s when you turn off the heat and let it cool down completely. This process takes about 15-20 minutes.
For the dumpling, the first thing you need to do is to boil the sweet potatoes. Once they are cool, peel the skins off and mash them well.
Add the flour and some rice flour and make dough out of this. It will be soft dough and a bit sticky too. You may need to adjust the quantity of flour depending on the stickiness. It has to be hard enough to be able to make small round balls. But then don’t add too much flour that it will taste doughy. The predominant taste has to be sweet potatoes.
Quickly make small balls of dough. Take one ball at a time and press gently on the palm of your hand. Flatten it out and spoon in a teaspoon of the filling in each ball.
Gently cover the filling with both ends of the dough and press with your fingertips to seal the edges. Then using both your palm, shape them into cylinders with conical edges.
Now the difficult part is deep-frying these dumplings. You have to make sure that the oil is not extremely hot or the dumpling will fall apart. Fry them on medium-low heat and turn them gently so that the colour is uniform on all sides.
Once you have a dark golden colour of the dumplings, take them out of the hot oil and drop them in the bowl of syrup instantly.
Let it rest in the syrup for some time. The dumpling will soak in a lot of syrup and will be soft, moist and juicy on the inside. It is nothing short of heavenly in the way it tastes, especially in the date palm syrup.
You can serve it hot or cold as per your taste and liking.