Gujiya

Gujiyas are Indian dessert commonly made during Holi, Festival of Colours.

Such fond memories as child, Holi preparations begin from first day of March beautiful time of year early spring with soft rays of sun, blossom begins to show up. I love poppadoms so much, Holi is the Indian festival with maximum variations in poppadoms from rice, lentils, potatoes, veggies etc. all sun dried. I really miss those days full of joy, enthusiasm and curiosity.

Gujiyas are sweet dumplings made of maida (refined flour )and filled with a delightful semolina,khoya( milk solids) and dry fruits mixture, popularly made in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

The crisp outer layer cracks in the mouth for the sweet filling to take on your senses. Today, there are many versions of the gujiya available with different fillings such as dry fruit gujiya, mawa gujiya and even healthier ones like baked gujiyas, but nothing beats the timeless classic.

Gujiya

Pooja Yadav

Gujiyas are Indian dessert commonly made during the festival of Holi, Festival of Colours.

Gujiya’s are sweet dumplings made of maida (refined flour )and filled with a delightful semolina,khoya( milk solids) and dry fruits mixture, popularly made in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

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Prep Time 50 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 1 hr 10 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings 12

Ingredients

  

Dough

• 2 cups refined flour
• 1 cup clarified butter
• Water as required

For the filling

• 1 cup khoya (milk solids)
• 1 cup sugar or to taste
• 2 tbsps dessicated coconut
• 1 tbsp almonds, crushed (optional)
• 1-2 tbsp Indian raisins
• 1 tsp green cardamom powder
• oil for frying

Instructions

 

• Take a bowl, add all purpose flour and water to make a soft dough. To accentuate the taste of this traditional recipe, add some ghee or clarified butter into the dough.
• To make the dough soft, knead well by sprinkling some water. Once the dough attains the perfect consistency, keep it aside for an hour. 
• In the meantime, take a deep-fry pan then saute khoya and semolina till it turns golden and keep it aside to cool.
• Take off the heat and when it cools, mix in the sugar, cardamom, raisins, dessicated coconut and almonds.
  
• Divide the dough into two parts. Make a medium-sized dough trail log. Divide it in small portions.
• Roll each part in your palms to form a ball. Prepare all the dough balls this way and place them in the same bowl.Cover with a moist kitchen towel.
• Dust the rolling board lightly with some flour. Roll each ball with the rolling pin to a small circle having 4 to 5 inches diameter. Use a pastry brush to apply water all over the circumference edge for better seal.
• Place about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of the the prepared khoya filling on one side of the circle, keeping the edges empty. Fold the other half over and press the edges together to seal. 
  
• Make all the gujiyas in this way. Heat oil in a kadahi. To check if the oil is hot enough put a piece of dough in it. If it comes up at once, add as many gujiyas as fit in comfortably.
• Turn them over and lower the heat to medium. Fry till golden brown on all sides. Lift out and leave to drain on absorbent paper.
  
• Fry the rest, increasing the heat for a few seconds before adding the next lot.
  
• Can be eaten hot or at room temperature and can be stored in air-tight containers.
  

Notes

The dough plays great importance in making Gujiyas. Just make a stiff dough and let it rest for 30-minutes and roll the puris (circular flattened dough) for making the Gujiya.

 One of the key points of making Gujiya is frying them at the right temperature. So, make sure that you always fry the Gujiyas on medium heat and give them some time to cook.

Never overfill the Gujiyas as they will break open on frying.

Healthier options whole flour or multi grain flour for pastry dough can be used.

Gujiya’s can be baked instead of deep frying. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius (390 degree Fahrenheit). Brush oil or melted ghee on the gujiya evenly all over. If using oil, use a neutral flavored oil.Bake the gujiya for 20 to 30 minutes at 200 degrees celsius until they are golden.

Variations in Gujiya stuffing;

Khoya Gujiya; stuffed with milk solid mixture
Suji Gujiya; Stuffed with semolina nuts & raisins Dry Fruit Gujiya;Wholly crushed fruits & nuts.
Karanji; Gujiya’s stuffed with mixture of coconut, poppy seeds, sesame seeds & nuts.

Vegan lifestyle skip milk solids and clarified butter. Skip nuts for any allergies.