My Recipe Flavors: Gujiya

This is a typical Holi snack which my mom always made and I enjoyed it a lot. I only like my mom's gujiyas. The process is very elaborate but the result is very yummy. All my friends still miss my mom's gujiyas on Holi. I too make Gujiya every Holi using her recipe.

Preparation Time: 1 1/2 - 2 hrs
Cooking Time: 30 min
Makes: 15-20 pieces

Ingredients:

For Dough
3 cups Maida / All Purpose Flour
3 tblsp ghee / oil
Salt to taste

For Filling
200 gm Khoya
1 cup Sugar
2 tblsp Suji / Rava
2 tsp Khus-khus
1/4 dry cocount, grated
1/2 cup kishmis, Almonds and Cashews
1/2 tsp Elaichii powder
1 tblsp Ghee

Method:

Heat 1 tblsp ghee.
Fry kishmis, cashews, khas-khas and grated coconut separately and keep aside. Ensure that you fry coconut and khas-khas last as it uses up all the ghee. They need to fried for about 2-3 min each.
Fry suji/rava and khoya separately till golden. Depending on the type of khoya - fry it for about 10-15 min. If it gets too dry then the gujiya filling will be very dry.
Cool all the above fried ingredients.
Mix everything together along with sugar and elachii powder. Keep this filling aside.
Knead the ingredients under For Dough with water to a hard dough.
Make balls and roll them out. The size depends on what size gujiyas you want.
Now we need to make the gujiyas D-shape and fill it. I always use a gujiya maker that I got from India for this. Here in US, you get a dumpling maker which can be used with equal ease. You can also fold it to a D-Shape using your hand.
Using a Gujiya/Dumpling maker - Take a puri and place it on the maker. The puri size has to be bigger than the maker round size. Put a spoonful of filling in the center. Dip your finger in water and spread this water all around the edge of the maker. Carefully close the maker ensuring no filling comes in the sealing edge. Press lightly to seal the gujiya. Open the maker and remove the gujiya.
By hand - Put a spoonful of the filling in the center of the puri. Dip your finger in water and spread this water all around the edge of the puri. Now seal the ends by bringing one half over the other. Press the edge lightly. If you want a designed edge, start from one end folding the edge towards the inside in a spiral form till you reach the other end.
Heat oil for deep frying gujiyas and deep fry them on medium heat. While you are frying keep the rest of the gujiya's covered so that they don't dry.

Tips

Ensure that no filling comes in between the sealed edges or else the gujiya will open during frying and the filling will be in oil. You need to change oil if this happens or else this filling will get stuck on any gujiyas you fry. While closing if any filling comes out, and believe me it does even with experts, then use another fresh puri and put this gujiya inside that and seal like a regular gujiya.
Make the filling a day in advance and the gujyas next day so it isn't as tiring.
Make all gujiyas and then deep fry them as you can't make them as fast as they fry. You need to keep the made gujiyas covered with a thick cloth/plastic cover during this time to prevent drying.
I normally make Papdi's the same day as Gujiya as I use the leftover Gujiya dough to make papdi's. I normally make more Gujiya dough so that it is definitly left-over.
Here's a photo of a dumpling maker you find here.

Publishing this again to send it off to Purva's Holi Hai Event

Gujiya

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