Gujiya

Continuing my Diwali celebrations, this post covers another sweet/dessert that I prepared this week. However this is more of a regular one in my house than limited only for Diwali (courtesy my husband 🙂 ); not to forget that this is a much loved sweet/snack in parts of North/East India during the festival of Holi.

For all my friends across the globe, Gujiya is a crescent shaped deep fried sweet dumpling stuffed with coconut, dry fruits, semolina or khoya. It is similar to the Portuguese dish Empanadas, which has a stuffing made of cheese, mix vegetables, fruits or meat.

Gujiya has many names as per the different regions of India in which it is prepared – Gujiya in Rajasthan, Pedakiya in Bihar, Karanji in Maharashtra, Ghughra in Gujarat, Karachika in Tamil Nadu, Karjikayi in Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka  and, Nevris in Goa.

Note that the outer covering is usually made up of all-purpose flour but the filling can vary across each of these states in India. I personally favour the coconut, poppy seeds and dry fruits stuffing, and this is what I am covering in this post.

I am also happy to write that this post is dedicated to all those dear friends, who have specifically requested for Gujiya recipe. So guys here it is 🙂

The ingredients required for the outer covering are:

1. All-purpose Flour (Plain Flour/Maida) : 1 cup
2. Semolina (Suji) : 1/4 cup
3. Clarified butter (ghee) : 1 Tbsp (melted)
4. Salt : a pinch
5. Warm Milk : as needed

The ingredients required for the stuffing are:

1. Coconut : 1 cup ( grated)
2. Poppy seeds (Khus khus) : 2 tsp
3. Sugar : 1 cup (powdered)
4. Cardamom (Elaichi) : 1/4 tsp
5. Nutmeg powder (Jaifal) : a pinch (optional)
6. Almonds, Pistachios, Cashew nuts : 2-3 Tbsp (finely chopped)
7. Oil : For deep frying

Method :

For making the Outer Covering:

Take all-purpose flour, semolina, salt, clarified butter in a big bowl and mix them well with hands. Now slowly add warm milk as needed to knead a firm dough. Then keep the dough covered with a damp cloth and put it aside for at least 30 minutes.

For making the Stuffing:

Heat a pan and dry roast the coconut for 1-2 minutes, just making it warm (no need to make it brown); then take it out.

Heat a pan and dry roast the poppy seeds for 50-60 seconds and them take them out.

Take a big bowl and add coconut, poppy seeds, sugar, mixed nuts, cardamom, and nutmeg powder. Mix them well and keep it aside.

For making the Gujiya:

Pinch out a small ball from the dough and roll it out in a small circle, neither too thick nor too thin.

Place 1 Tbsp stuffing in the middle of this rolled out circle. Smear some milk around the circle, and bring one end of circle over the top to the other end, to make a semi-circle.

Press it well with fingertips to avoid the stuffing coming out during deep frying. Then press the edges with a fork to seal them and make a beautiful pattern.

       

OR, you could simply use Gujiya moulds (easily available in most Indian/Asian stores).

For using these moulds: first grease the gujiya mould with oil, and place the rolled out circle on top of it. Place 1 Tbsp of stuffing on one side. Smear the milk on the edges of the circle, folding one side of the mould over the other and closing it. Press the edges to seal gujiya well and remove excess edges from mould and reuse it with rest of dough. Press again to make sure Gujiya is sealed well; then gently open mould and take out Gujiya. Repeat the same process to use the rest of the dough to prepare Gujiyas.

Once you have prepared the raw Gujiya (either by manually giving them the shape or by using a Gujiya mould): heat oil in a pan and when the oil is medium hot then put the raw Gujiyas in the oil, deep frying them till they become golden brown in colour.

Serve your Gujiya warm or store in any air tight container for a later consumption. Note that you can easily store them for 10-15 days.

Insider Tips / Finer Points :

• Do not over-stuff the Gujiya otherwise it will break up during frying.
• Similarly, seal the Gujiya tightly else it will open up and the stuffing will come out while frying.
• Oil must not be too hot for frying. Hot oil will cause bubbles on the outer covering, which doesn’t look good at all.
• Always fry the Gujiyas on a medium/low flame; that way the resulting Gujiya’s are crispy. If you fry them on a high flame, they will become soggy after some time.
• If you are real health conscious and don’t want to eat the deep fried Gujiya then simply bake them. Bake the raw Gujiya’s in a preheated oven on 200°C for 18-20 minutes; flipping them over after 10 minutes, till they get brown spots.