WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY AND COLORFUL HOLI!! 🙂 

Finally the long wait is over and we are just a week away from HOLI! A festival which needs no introduction. Holi is one of those festivals which are played all around the world with great enthusiasm. Its a festival of colors and just like every festival has its own signature food, Gujiya is the chief food of Holi! The real fun of Holi lies in playing it with colors and water with your loved ones. However you can also play with acquaintances! People in general don’t mind if you smear or drench them on Holi and if they do so, just say the golden mantra “BURA NA MANO HOLI HAI” (a positive expression meaning “please don’t get annoyed haha, its Holi”) and share your scrumptious “Gujiya” – this, is the love and culture of HOLI 🙂 Holi signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, togetherness, play and laugh, forget and forgive.

I remember the joys of dhol dance, funny fights between friends & cousins in order to color each other’s face – a common sight on the streets, terraces, backyards, open parks, outside temples, just about everywhere..group of people carrying drums going from street to street singing and dancing and throwing gulal in the air. Oh what fun it was! This time I am going to miss apno ki toli but will make sure we celebrate desi style in SF! However I am not going to miss the chief “Gujiya” which I cooked here myself :)))

Gujiyas are kind of sweet fried dumplings made out of maida dough (all purpose flour) filled with a mixture of khoya and dry fruits. Cooked correctly, its a kind of Indian sweet which can take your senses away.

Some people like to dip them in a sugary syrup and serve. There are many versions of gujiya available with different fillings such as dry fruit gujiya, mawa gujiya, coconut gujiya. But nothing beats the classic Mawa gujiya.

Cuisine: Indian Course: dessert Preparation time : 50 mins Cooking time: 15 min each batch Serving: 25-30 (Pcs)

INGREDIENTS AND INITIAL PREPARATION:-

Below are the required quantities for each ingredient for 4-5 servings:-

FOR STUFFING:-
Mawa/khoya: 350-370 gm
Ghee: 1 tsp
Sugar: 150 gm
Roasted Semolina/ Sooji: 2 tsp or 10 gm
Roasted Chironji: 1/8 cup or 30 gm 
Roasted grated Almond: 1 tbsp or 15gm
Raisins: 1/4 cup or 50-60 gm
Cardamom/elaichi: 1 tsp

FOR DOUGH:
All purpose flour/Maida:  450 gm
Ghee: 60 ml
Milk : 60 ml
Water: 120 ml
Oil for frying (Olive oil or ghee)
Gujiya maker or mold

RECIPE IN A NUTSHELL:

Prepare stuffing: You can get khoya (or mawa) from any sweet shop in India. If you are not in India, you may shop it from any general Indian store in your city. Heat a heavy base pan or kadai, put crumbled and grated khoya (I got the frozen one) and stir it continuously on low to medium heat for at least 20 mins. At this point grated Khoya will start to appear accumulated. Add ghee, sugar, roasted semolina, chironji, almond, raisins and powdered cardamom and stir for another 10 mins. Gujiya stuffing is ready. Let it cool and crumble manually. You may taste the mixture and add sugar if you like it sweeter. Move to the next step.

Prepare dough: In a kneading bowl, mix maida and ghee or oil very well (I prefer ghee). Add little milk and lukewarm water to the bowl. Knead the dough as tight as you can. Apply oil on top of the dough and cover it with a moist clothe, rest for 10 mins.

Making of gujiya:  Take a small portion from dough, shape it like a ball and flatten it approximately to the size of gujiya maker using a rolling pin. Use flour dust to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. Make sure the flattened sheet is neither too thin nor too thick. Place this dough sheet on the gujiya mold. Add a spoon of mawa stuffing on one half of the sheet. Apply water with a fingertip on the edges of the sheet (water helps in sticking the two halves together when folded) and shut the gujiya maker from non mawa side as shown below. Lightly press and remove the extra part of dough sticking out of the mold. Take the molded gujiya out of the mold and put it aside in a plate. Cover it with a moist cloth to ensure it does not get dry. Repeat the process to make all the remaining gujiyas.

 

Tip: if you don’t have gujiya mold, you may seal it with the help of a fork or pizza cutter. Don’t forget to apply water onto the edges before sealing.

Frying gujiya: Last step is to fry the gujiya. For that, heat oil in a pan on medium flame. Fry all the gujiyas till they become golden in color. Take them out on an absorbent paper. There it is! Garma garam gujiya is ready to eat. Serve hot or cold as you like. You may also store them in an airtight container for at least up to 15- 20 days. 

STEP BY STEP RECIPE WITH PHOTOS:

1. Heat a heavy base pan or kadai, put crumbled and grated khoya (I got the frozen one) and stir it continuously on low to medium heat for at least 20 mins. Meanwhile, if not already done in preparation stage, roast the Semolina & dry fruits in parallel on another burner for 2-3 mins on low flame. Set them aside.

 

 

 

2. Grated Khoya will start to appear accumulated. Add ghee, sugar, roasted semolina, chironji, almond, raisins and powdered cardamom and stir for another 10 mins.

 

 

 

3. Gujiya stuffing is ready. Let it cool and crumble manually. You may taste the mixture       and add sugar if you like it sweeter. 

4. In a kneading bowl, mix maida and ghee or oil very well (I prefer ghee). Add little milk and lukewarm water to the bowl. Knead the dough as tight as you can. Apply oil on top of the dough and cover it with a moist clothe, rest for 10 mins.

 

5. Take a small portion from dough, shape it like a ball and flatten it approximately to the size of gujiya maker using a rolling pin. Use flour dust to make the sheet. Make sure the flattened sheet is neither too thin nor too thick.

 

6. Place this dough sheet on the gujiya mold. Add a spoon of mawa stuffing on one half of the sheet. Apply water with a fingertip on the edges of the sheet (water helps in sticking the two halves together when folded) and shut the gujiya maker from non mawa side. Lightly press and remove the extra part of dough sticking out of the mold. 

 

7. Take the molded gujiya out of the mold and put it aside in a plate. Cover it with a moist cloth to ensure it does not get dry. Repeat the process to make all the remaining gujiyas.8. Last step is to fry the gujiya. For that, heat oil in a pan on medium flame. Fry all the gujiyas till they become golden in color. Take them out on an absorbent paper. 

 

 

9. There it is! Garma garam gujiya is ready to eat. Serve hot or cold as you like. You may also store them in an airtight container for at least up to 15- 20 days.

Sharing is caring :

1. The consistency of the dough is very important while making gujiya. It should be tight. 
2. Don’t over cook khoya stuffing. It would easily burn the mixture.
3. if you are tired by making khoya stuffing. you may keep the stuffing at room temperature. Next day, you need to re-stir the mixture of stuffing for 5 mins on low flame & let the stuffing cool down!! Then, proceed to making dough step .
4. Too much stuffing may break gujiya in the oil, so be careful.
5. Store them in any airtight container for up to 15-20 days, once it gets cool.
6. If you want to eat hot gujiya, place all stored gujiya for 5 mins in an oven at 200 degree. 
7. Oven baking is also available for health freak. You could line them all gujiyas on a baking tray in a single layer and bake in a pre heated oven at 160 degrees for 20-25 minutes. I prefer frying.

Happy Holi Peeps 🙂

 

 

                                                                    Recipe in a pic