Gujiyas for Holi .. Make mawa and nuts filled gujiyas for Holi. Deep fried Indian pastries/empanadas filled with nuts and milk solids(mawa).

Holi .. The Festival of colors..

Holi Hai!! Holi festival of colors...one of the major Indian festivals of love, happiness and joy is celebrated all around the country. I have very fond memories of Holi, going to market with Papa and buying colors, water gun(pichkari), the Holi Pujan on Choti Holi(day before main Holi on the day when people play colors-Dulhandi), making of gujiyas, Mathri and Shakkarpare and other Holi snacks with mom and other neighborhood aunties. On main Holi day,when it is celebrated with colors, neighborhood kids gathered together to play, throwing water balloons at each other and the adults and when nobody minded the kids' naughtiness. Some things never change... Even my kids had the same fun on Holi in India, my daughter too looked forward to buying water gun, balloons, colors and of course the Holi Snacks.

What is Gujiya

Festivals anywhere in world are incomplete without the homemade sweets and snacks. Gujiyas are the traditional sweets that are made for Holi in the northern part of India especially in Uttar Pradesh. In Maharashtra Karanji similar to Gujiya is popular.

For those who are not familiar with Gujiya, it is a kind of deep-fried pastry stuffed with nuts, mawa/khoya (evaporated milk solids) and grated coconut and semolina. Coconut and semolina are optional and people use it for filling as per their personal preferences. It is similar to Empanadas(made with different fillings both sweet and savory) that are popular all around the world with different fillings and flavors.

For me, my mom-made gujiyas are still the best ones for me that I have had till date. She skipped coconut in the filling instead, lightly coated sugar syrup dipped gujiyas with grated coconut. Not every year but few times I make Gujiyas gujiyas but whenever I make it can't match the taste of what my mom made !! Gujiyas can be shaped by hand or special molds are also available for the same.

For making the outer covering dough is rolled, cut into small circles, stuffed with filling and folded into a half circle and edges sealed with water or slurry made with all-purpose flour and water.

Let's get the ingredients and make these sweet dumplings filled with the rich mixture of nuts(mainly cashew nuts, raisins and chirongi(small lentil sized seed), melon seeds and mawa, coated with sweet nutty coconut!!

Recipe Card for Gujiyas for Holi

Gujiya for Holi

Swati

Flaky and delicious, Gujiya for Holi ,dipped in sugar syrup and coated with coconut flakes

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Course Desserts

Cuisine Indian

Ingredients

  

For Outer Covering/Pastry

• 1 and 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour-APF/Maida 200 gm
• 1/4 Cup Ghee
• 1/4-1/2 Cup Milk for kneading can use water also

For Filling

• Cup Khoya/Mawa
• 1/2 Cup Mixed Nuts(Cashew nuts, Almonds, Pistachios)
• 1/4 tsp Cardamom Powder
• 2 tbsp Raisins
• 2 tbsp Chironji optional

For Sugar Syrup(optional)

• 1 Cup Water
• 3/4 Cup Sugar

For Outer Covering after dipping Sugar Syrup(optional)

• Coconut Flakes(for light coating) as required

Instructions

 

Khoya and Nuts Filling for Gujjiya

• Take a non-stick pan or thick bottomed pan and dry roast mawa, till it turns light brown.
• Roast nuts in a separately. If you are adding raisins, add it later. Once the mawa is warm or cools down, add nuts, cardamom powder, and powdered sugar or boora to it and mix well. Keep aside.
• I use less sugar for filling as I coat these in sugar syrup, you can adjust the amount of sugar as per your requirement.
• Mawa for the filling can be store-bought or homemade.Use unsweetened and granular mawa for making gujiya. Click on the link for homemade mawa / khoya recipe.
• If you are using coconut/semolina, take 1-2 tbsp of each as per your preference, roast for a few minutes and mix with mawa or nuts.

Dough For Outer Covering

• For the dough, mix flour and ghee lightly, rub the ghee into the flour until the flour resembles breadcrumbs.
• Adding ghee/fat to the flour is also known as 'Mooyein' in the local language, and it should be added just enough that the flour binds loosely with when taken in the fist
• Knead it with milk to a soft dough. Milk should be at the normal temperature. It adds richness to the dough.
• You can take water also for kneading instead of milk.Keep aside the dough covered with a damp kitchen towel, for 10-15 minutes.
• Make the slurry with 1 Tbsp of flour and 2 Tbsp of water, for sealing gujjiyas.
• After the resting period of the dough, divide dough it into small tennis ball sized portions.Roll with rolling-pin into a circular thin disc.
• Place a spoonful of filling on it, apply the slurry on the edges, fold into half circle, press the edges with a fork to seal.
• Make rest of the gujjiyas with the same process.
• Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan.
• When the oil is hot enough, fry gujjiyas in it, 3-4 at a time or depending on the size of the pan you are using.
• Oil for frying gujiya should not be very hot, else the outer covering will have a lot of bubbles.
• To check that the oil is hot enough for frying gujjiyas, put one in a pan, it should first sink to the bottom then rise slowly to the surface.
• Then put rest of pieces, and fry first on low flame then on medium flame.This way the gujiyas will be evenly cooked from outside as well as inside and there will be no bubbling on the outer surface.
• Fry all the gujjiyas till these are golden brown in color.Let the gujiyas cool down.

Sugar Syrup fro Coating Gujiya(optional)

• Soaking the gujiyas in sugar syrup and coating in grated coconut/flakes is optional.
• If you want to go ahead with this step, make sugar syrup. For that add water and sugar to a pan, and boil, till the solution is of one thread consistency.Dip the gujiyas in the syrup for a minute and take it out, roll in grated coconut. I have used store-bought coconut flakes. You can grate coconut at home and use.
• Once the gujiyas cool down sugar will crystallize if you dipped it in sugar syrup. Keep in an airtight container. These stay good for 10-15 days.

Keyword Gujjiya, Recipes for Holi

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Stepwise Recipe pics on how to make Gujiya for Holi

1. 1. Ingredients for Gujjiya filling--Mixed Nuts, Mawa/Khoya, Sugar, Cardamom, Grated Coconut,

Ingredients for outer covering-- All-purpose flour, Ghee/Oil, a pinch of salt

Finely chop nuts

Roast mawa

When it gets light brown color, switch off the flame and keep aside to cool

Once cooled, add sugar

Add in mixed nuts and raisins

Mix everything properly

Add melted ghee/ oil to flour

Rub-into flour, till the flour is of breadcrumb consistency

Check whether the flour just binds when taken in fist

Add milk slowly and knead to a nice soft dough

Cover the dough witha damp cloth aand keep aside for 30mins

After 30 mins, make tennis ball sized portions

Roll out each portion with the help of a rolling pin to a thin circular dics

Roll out all the portions and cover with a damp cloth

Make slurry with flour and water to seal the edges

Keep a tablespoon of filling in the center and apply slurry to the edges

Fold into semi-circle

Make Gujjiyas with rest of the rolled dough

Fry gujjiya in thick bottomed pan, on low-medium heat.

Prepare sugar syrup with one cup sugar and one cup water

Dip the fried gujjiya in sugar syrup

Transfer to a tray and coat with coconut flakes

Can we Bake Gujiyas(Oven and Air Fryer)

For those who don't want deep-fried gujiya, you can bake these in the oven at 400°F or 200°C, in the preheated oven, for around 30 mins. Same settings work for Air-Fryer but time taken is less about 15-20 mins.

• Brush the gujiyas with oil and keep in the oven to bake.Turn the sides after 10-15 minutes of baking.
• Check the baking time, as it can differ due to different oven temperatures. Bake till light brown in color.
• Give milk wash once out of the oven (for milk wash, dissolve 1 tsp of melted ghee or oil in 2-3 Tbsp of milk) and if you want, sprinkle some coconut when still warm.

Make and relish these gujjiyas with other Holi snacks and enjoy the Festival of Color with your loved ones!! Cook, Eat, Celebrate

Other recipes for Holi.. Mawa Kachoris, Rajasthani Pyaz Ki Kachori, Holi Together for a complete menu plan for Holi party and many more.

Do try Gujiya for Holi my way.. You will surely love it. Dipping is sugar syrup and coating with coconut flakes is optional and trust me it tastes awesome!!

Whenever you make it do give me your feedback in comments. Any queries are welcomed and you can share here or on my Facebook page. You can post your feedback with the pic of on my FB page or tag me on Instagram(#foodtrails25). Pin the recipe for later use.

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