Sweetened Mawa Gujiya is a flaky pastries with sweet fillings or also known as fried dumplings made with all purpose flour or wheat flour and stuffed with milk solids, coconut, nuts and later dunked in a sweet sugar syrup to get that glaze on top. Mostly made in Northen part of India during festivals like Holi or Diwali. These Gujiyas have significant shape and the filling is done with hands. Mostly the gujiyas are shaped into a sphere with khoya and roasted nuts filling. Sometimes, to acquire a grainy texture, semolina/ roasted sooji is also added with the filling. It’s Holi time in India and I can already smell the festivity in the air. After making some delicious Mawa Kachori, I simply thought to try my hands on these sweet loaded Gujiyas as I had some mawa left in my fridge. Also because this recipe was not yet updated in my blog, i had enough reasons to try out.
Types Of Gujiya :
Gujiya aka Karanji in certain parts of India is a sweet deep-fried dumpling, native to the Indian subcontinent, made with suji or maida and stuffed with a mixture of sweetened khoya and dried fruits. It is common in North India, particularly in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
It is basically of two types : Dry Gujiya & Sweetened Mawa Gujiya. The method of making dry gujiya is same as the sweetened one. The only difference is of the sugar syrup in which the gujiyas are dipped to make the sweetened one. Gujiyas can be shaped with hands or you can easily shape them using molds available in stores both in plastic and metal.
Similar to Gujiya :
Several regional cuisines in India feature dishes similar to gujiya, but with different fillings. Gujias are prepared in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujrat and Bihar regions of India during Holi and Diwali festivities. They are called Purukiya in Bihar. Purukiyas are very popular in Bihar and are relished by everyone. There are two types of purukiya made in Bihar: one with suji / rawa (Semolina) and another with khoya. In suji purukiya, suji is roasted in ghee with sugar, cashew, grated coconut, cardamom, raisins and other nuts and then deep fried in ghee. In khoya purukiya, pure khoya is mixed with nuts and sugar and then deep fried. It is also called Ghughra (Gujarati) in Gujarat, Karanji (Marathi) in Maharashtra, Somas (Tamil) in Tamil Nadu, Garijalu (Telugu) in Telangana and, Kajjikaya (Telugu/Kannada) in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. They are all fried sweet dumplings made of wheat flour and stuffed with dry or moist coconut delicacies. In Goa, Goans prepare a similar sweet on the occasion of their festivals: Hindus for Ganesh Chaturthi and Christians for Christmas, and call it nevri or neuri .In Odisha it is called “karanji” and has either a coconut based or curd cheese based filling. (source : Wiki)
Chandrakala. It is a dessert from Northern India, similar to gujiya. The outer covering is made of flour and the stuffing is traditionally made using dry fruits like charoli, raisins, coconut, almonds, and cashews, along with khoa, semolina, cardamom, sugar, and pistachio. Chandrakala gets the name from the shape. Chandrakala is Chandran means Moon, so its half-moon shape.
How to make Gujiya ?
Firstly prepare the pastry dough . Sieve all purpose flour twice in a large mixing bowl. Add ghee and mix with hands to make the flour crumbly. Now start adding warm water gradually and knead the flour to make a firm dough. Cover the dough with a muslin cloth and keep aside.
Meanwhile prepare the filling. Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a wok and roast all the chopped nuts and keep aside. In the same wok, roast sooji/ semolina and keep aside. Now add mawa/ khoya in the wok and roast it till dark brown in color. Add cardamom powder and keep stirring. Now add all the roasted nuts, semolina and coconut into the khoya and mix it nicely till everything incorporates well. Turn off the gas and allow the filling mixture to cool down completely in room temperature.
How to shape Gujiyas using mold ?
Now make Gujiyas. If you are using a mold then, pinch a lemon sized ball from the dough and roll it to make a puri on the dusted counter. Take the gujiya making mold, open it and place the rolled puri over it . Make sure the size of the poori should be larger than the open mold. Take a spoon full of filling and place on one side of the puri. Close the mold and press it nicely so that the edges get sealed properly. Remove the extras with your hand. Carefully open the mold and take out the shaped gujiya and place it on a plate/tray. Similarly make more gujiyas from the left over dough and filling. You can check the recipe of Dry Gujiya made using molds HERE
How to shape Gujiyas with hand ?
If you are shaping Gujiyas with hand then, pinch a lemon sized ball from the dough and roll it to make a puri having 4 to 5 inches diameter. Take a spoon full of filling and place on one side of the puri. dip your fingers in water and apply on the edges of the puri and carefully fold one side over the other to make a crescent. Gently press the edges so that it gets sealed properly. The edges have to be pressed well, so that the filling does not come out while frying. Remove the extras with your hand or cut with a pizza cutter. Now make pleated design at the edges. This way the stuffing does not come out while frying and the gujiya look beautiful. Just keep on folding and twisting the edges till the end. Similarly prepare more gujiyas this way and arrange them all in a tray and cover with a moist napkin so that the dough does not dry out.
How to fry Gujiya ?
Heat sufficient oil/ ghee in a wok. Drop in a small ball of dough into the oil, and if it immediately rises up, the oil is ready. Simmer the gas flames and drop in one gujiya carefully into the oil. Fry it in low flames from both sides till light golden in color. Transfer it on a kitchen towel to soak excess oil. Similarly soak rest of the gujiyas and keep aside on the kitchen towel. Once the gujiyas are cool, you can garnish them with silver leaf as well. Store the gujiyas in an air tight container and consume it within a week.
To make Sweetened Gujiya :
In a pan boil 3 cups sugar and one cup water. Add some cardamom powder and saffron strings in it. Make the sugar syrup till you get one string consistency. Turn off the gas. Dip Gujiyas one at a time while the syrup is hot and for 4-5 sec and take it out and place on a tray. Don’t wait for the syrup to cool, or else the sugar will crystalise. Garnish the sweetened gujiyas with some sliced almonds and pistachios and sprinkle some dried rose petals on top to give a festive and royal touch. You can also add edible silver leaf before serving.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
pieces
|
- 2 cups Maida/ All purpose flour
- 2 tbsp Ghee / Clarified Butter
- 1 cup Luke warm water for kneading
- 250 grams Crumbled Mawa/ Khoya
- 1 cup Fresh Grated Coconut
- 1/2 tsp Elaichi powder / Green cardamom powder
- 2 tbsp Roasted Semolina / Sooji/ Rawa
- 1/2 cup Chopped Nuts and Raisins Cashews, Almond, Chironjee
- Oil / Ghee for deep frying
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
- 1 pinch saffron
- 1 tbsp Almond flakes
- 1 tbsp Sliced Pistachios
- 1 tbsp Dried Rose Petals
- 1 leaf Edible silver leaf optional
Ingredients
For Pastry Dough :
For Filling :
For Sugar Syrup :
For Garnish :
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|
- Firstly prepare the pastry dough . Sieve all purpose flour twice in a large mixing bowl. Add ghee and mix with hands to make the flour crumbly. Now start adding warm water gradually and knead the flour to make a firm dough. Cover the dough with a muslin cloth and keep aside.
- Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a wok and roast all the chopped nuts and keep aside. In the same wok, roast sooji/ semolina and keep aside. Now add mawa/ khoya in the wok and roast it till dark brown in color. Add cardamom powder and keep stirring. Now add all the roasted nuts, semolina and coconut into the khoya and mix it nicely till everything incorporates well. Turn off the gas and allow the filling mixture to cool down completely in room temperature.
- Pinch a lemon sized ball from the dough and roll it to make a puri having 4 to 5 inches diameter. Take a spoon full of filling and place on one side of the puri.
- Dip your fingers in water and apply on the edges of the puri and carefully fold one side over the other to make a crescent. Gently press the edges so that it gets sealed properly. The edges have to be pressed well, so that the filling does not come out while frying.
- Remove the extras with your hand or cut with a pizza cutter. Now make pleated design at the edges. This way the stuffing does not come out while frying and the gujiya look beautiful. Just keep on folding and twisting the edges till the end.
- Similarly prepare more gujiyas this way and arrange them all in a tray and cover with a moist napkin so that the dough does not dry out.
- Heat sufficient oil/ ghee in a wok. Drop in a small ball of dough into the oil, and if it immediately rises up, the oil is ready. Simmer the gas flames and drop in one gujiya carefully into the oil. Fry it in low flames from both sides till light golden in color. Transfer it on a kitchen towel to soak excess oil. Similarly soak rest of the gujiyas and keep aside on the kitchen towel.
- In a pan boil 3 cups sugar and one cup water. Add some cardamom powder and saffron strings in it. Make the sugar syrup till you get one string consistency. Turn off the gas. Dip Gujiyas one at a time while the syrup is hot and for 4-5 sec and take it out and place on a tray. Don’t wait for the syrup to cool, or else the sugar will crystalise.
- Garnish the sweetened gujiyas with some sliced almonds and pistachios and sprinkle some dried rose petals on top to give a festive and royal touch. You can also add edible silver leaf before serving.
If you liked this amazingly delicious festival sweet recipe, then try making at home this Holi and serve your friends and family some extra sweetness. Share your stories and experience with me in comments below, i'd love to hear from you. Until then, Happy Cooking and wishing you all A VERY HAPPY HOLI !
Love : Shaheen
