One bite of these personal-sized gujiyas will leave you craving for more! Plus, these gujiyas make the perfect festive gift to give to friends and family.
Holi, also known as Basant Utsav (Spring Festival), is celebrated across India with great cheer and happiness. One of the best parts of Holi, besides getting saturated with gulaal, is its mouthwatering sweet and savory snacks.
Whether it be Holi or Diwali, we cannot imagine celebrations and festivities in India without an array of Indian fusion recipes like Thandai mousse gulab jamun cups, Holi Cannoli – Shahi tukda cannoli, Gulab jamun yogurt tart, Thandai drink, and with gujiya being the most favorite one. This traditional Gujiya is a must-have at the Holi celebration.
What is Gujiya?
Shaped like a crescent or half-moon, gujiya is a deep-fried flaky dumpling stuffed with a sweet filling of mawa, dry fruits, coconut, and sugar. In short, it is the Indian version of empanadas that are packed with a sweet filling. The sweet filling in the gujiya recipe varies insignificantly across India, and it even goes by many different names, including:
Karanji in Maharashtra. This similarly shaped gujiya is stuffed with a coconut filling that contains no mawa. Ghughra in Gujarat Nevri in Goa Kajjikaya in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and Purukiya in Bihar.
But no matter whatever name you choose to call it by, it’s so delicious and addictive that you’ll fall in love with it at the first bite! The fool-proof gujiya recipe that I am sharing with you is Chashni wali mawa gujiya – from Rajasthan.
» Flour — For the outer crust, I have used all-purpose flour as it gives great results. However, you can use a combo of wheat flour and all-purpose flour to make gujiyas. » Ghee — Ghee is added to the flour before kneading as it acts as a moyan ( the fat that is added to the flour while kneading) and lends a khasta/crispy texture to our gujiyas. Ghee is also used in the recipe for frying. For that authentic taste, always fry gujiyas in ghee. But, you can use any flavorless oil as a substitute. » Salt — Just a pinch is added to the dough to bring out the flavors. » Mawa + unsweetened desiccated coconut — the combo of these two and mixed nuts makes the filling. I have used homemade mawa for this recipe. You can find the recipe here. » Sugar — Both powdered sugar and granulated sugar are used in this recipe. Powdered sugar to flavor our mawa mixture and granulated sugar to coat the gujiyas. » Mixed Nuts — I have used a blend of raisins, slivered almonds, cashews, and charoli nuts. But feel free to add whatever you have on hand. » Cardamom powder — It gives the gujiyas a delicious flavor boost. » Saffron strands — Saffron lends a very subtle flavor and a beautiful yet pale color to our mawa mixture. I like to step up the process by soaking my gujiyas in sugar syrup, but again it’s an optional step. If you like, you can skip the soaking part and enjoy the fried gujiyas. Soaked or not-soaked, either way, they will taste amazing.
Step:1 – Make Dough for Gujiya
Sift flour and salt in a mixing bowl, add ghee to the bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the flour and ghee together until the mixture resembles-like breadcrumbs. Slowly add lukewarm water to the flour and knead it into a firm dough. The dough should feel soft yet stiff but not sticky. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes. This is a required step. Please do not skip through this process. The dough will become more firm as the gluten develops and flour gets hydrated, resulting in crisper gujiyas.
Step:2 – Stuffing for Gujiya
Add ghee to a pan, add slivered almonds, charoli nuts, cashews, and raisins. Roast them for 5-6 minutes on a low flame until fragrant. Once done, take the pan off the flame and allow them to cool. Transfer the nuts (leave the raisins) to a grinder and grind them into the fine powder. Set aside. Add ghee to the same pan; as it melts, add mawa/khoya and roast it for about 2-3 minutes. Once done, take it off the flame and set it aside to cool. Now, add coconut, powdered sugar, ground nuts, cardamom powder, and raisins to the mawa. Mix until all the ingredients are fully incorporated. The mixture will be fine textured and should feel soft when rubbed in between fingers. Cover and set it aside to cool.
Take one ball and roll it into a 5-inch disc. Place a tablespoon full of mawa filling in the center of the rolled-out dough. Leave the space around the edges. Moisten the edge of the dough with water.
Lift the dough’s topside and fold it all the way over the rest of the dough to cover the mawa filling, press, and seal the edges well. There are 2 ways to seal the gujiyas
- Gujiya mold – This is the easier and fastest method. Place the folded gujiya in a gujiya mold. Press the mold until the edges are pinched together, and the gujiya is sealed. Remove the excess dough from the sides.
- Traditional pleats – It’s done by hand and requires a lot of patience and practice to get the perfect pleats. Take a folded gujiya and minutely bend the sealed edges around the rim of the gujiya to make pleats ( please pardon my pleating skills, I am still learning 😊). This is the most efficient method as the pleats prevent the filling from coming out during frying.
To prevent drying, keep the shaped gujiyas covered with a kitchen cloth at all times.
Step:4 – Frying the gujiyas
Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan. Once the ghee is moderately hot, gently slide in the gujiyas and deep-fry them until golden brown and crisp. Each batch takes somewhere around 12-15 minutes of frying time. Once cooked, remove from ghee and set them on a kitchen paper towel.
Fry all the gujiyas in a similar manner. Mawa gujiyas are ready to be served. If you do not prefer to soak them in sugar syrup, then serve them as is garnished with edible dried rose petals and dry nuts.
Our main purpose is to melt the sugar; we are not looking for a sugar consistency here. Therefore, cook the syrup for about 5-6 minutes on a low flame. After the desired cooking time is over, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool. Dip the fried gujiyas in the warm sugar syrup for a few seconds. Coat it well. Remove from sugar syrup and set aside. Coat the rest of the gujiyas in the sugar syrup and set them aside. Jazz them up crushed pistachios, silver leaf, edible dried rose petals, and serve.
» Moyan — For crispy textured gujiyas, moyan (addition of fat to the dough while kneading) is extremely important. I would suggest using ghee; however, you can substitute coconut oil for ghee. » Gujiya dough — Allow the dough to rest for at least 20 minutes for best results. » Water — Always use lukewarm water for kneading the gujiya dough. » Cover — Keep your gujiya dough and shaped balls covered at all times to prevent drying. » Sugar — Add the sugar quantity that is mentioned in the recipe. Too much sugar will harden the filling. » Roast the nuts — Do not forget to roast the dry nuts in a wee bit of ghee. Roasting nuts release their essential oils and bring out their fullest flavor. It maximizes their taste and is later crushed to the ideal consistency and texture. » Cool the filling — Make sure the mawa filling is cooled completely before you stuff it inside the gujiya dough. » Filling — Do not overfill the gujiya with filling; if too much mawa filling is added to the gujiya, it will break apart in frying. » Seal and secure — To avoid a mess, always make sure your gujiyas are sealed well before adding them to the hot ghee. Apply a little water around the edges of the dough and seal; apply more water if needed. » Oil temperature — Do not fry the gujiyas on high heat. The oil should be low to medium-hot. Frying them in hot oil will result in uncooked gujiyas. Likewise, if the gujiyas are cooked in moderately hot oil, they will soak up oil. » Gujia breaks during frying — If your gujiyas disperse during frying, then there no redemption for that. You need to pause your cooking and allow the ghee to cool down completely. Strain the ghee to remove all the filling and start over. » Soak the gujiyas — We don’t want overly sweet sugar-saturated gujiyas; therefore, dip the gujiyas in the sugar syrup for a few seconds, move around to coat, and remove. » Fry Gujiyas in ghee for the BEST flavor. » Pan —You a wide pan to fry the gujiyas and allow room for the gujiyas to float around during frying. Do not overcrowd the pan; fry the gujiyas in small batches. Transfer the baking tray with gujiyas to the preheated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a nice golden brown is attained. Remember to turning them halfway through the baking time. Once baked, remove them from the oven and set them on the counter to cool. Devour them as is, or coat them in the sugar syrup and enjoy!
How to store leftover Gujiyas?
Cooled mawa gujiyas can be stored in an airtight container for about a week at room temperature. After that, the mawa gujiya needs refrigeration. They will stay good for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. Store the Chasni wali mawa gujiya in the fridge in an airtight container. Do not crowd the container or press down hard while storing, as it may cause the outer crust to break. Store them in a single layer in the container. Should you make this Gujiya recipe, please let me know your thoughts by sharing your comment below. And don’t forget to share it with your family and friends.
Craving for more, try my other festive recipe:
