Mawa Gujiya

Holi is one of my favorite festivals. Apart from getting drenched with colored water and playing with tons of gulaal, I love the delicacies that we get to relish on Holi.

When I was a kid, my mom used to make a huge variety of snacks for this festival.

There were some dishes which she made throughout the year, but a lot of them were this festival specific.

Gujiya, Gajar Ki Kanji, Aloo Ke Chips, Aloo Ke Papad, and Papdi were marked as her signature dishes and she made them only for special occasions and festivals.

But out of all those recipes, Gujiya was the best. It is more like a sweet dumpling made from all-purpose flour and khoya.

It is well known in northern states of India such Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

And on top of this my mom makes the best Gujiya ever.

After I got married, my mom always used to send me my share of these every year, so I had practically never tried my hands on making these typical festival recipes and never cared to learn them either.

But recently, thought that it is not such a big deal, I could make them once and figure things out by myself.

So I  tried them with my mother’s guidance on call.

I remember making assumptions such as: making this is just so tedious and time-consuming, shaping them, all the same, I snot humanly achievable and more such stuff.

I am sure many of you must have thought the same, right?

But trust me, after making these at home, all my doubts got cleared and I was able to make the best Gujiya Recipe ever.

They are so easy to make that you would be happily surprised by the final outcome.

Gujia are similar to Maharashtrian karanji except that their filling is different.

In Karanji, the filling is coconut dominant and no khoya is added to it. You can call them coconut gujiya 🙂

So grab this chance to have a look at the recipe of these and do make them this Holi. And while you are at it, celebrate Holi with your loved ones and let them savor your delicious Gujiya as well!

Pro Tips by Neha

You will need a mold to shape the Gujiya unless you are adept at sealing the edges using your fingers.

So make sure to buy one beforehand or order it online.

For the filling, you can use other dry fruits like almonds, cashew nuts, pistachios, etc.

I also use chironji and raisins as my mom do. Poppy seeds are also a great addition to the filling.

Frying these is a time taking process. Be mentally prepared that this particular process will take time.

Rest everything is a breeze. You can make these in small batches that you can easily do.

Each batch will take 15-20 minutes of frying.

You don’t want to fry the Gujiya on high heat. They will be browned from outside but will be raw from inside and that’s not cool.

Sometimes one of the Gujiya breaks while frying and the filling start to stick on others.

There is no rescue for that batch but for the next one, strain the ghee using a metal strainer and then use it for frying.

The dough must be covered with moist cloth at all times. After shaping the Gujiya, keep them on a plate covered.

You can easily half or double this recipe.

Make sure to seal the gujiya very well after stuffing. If they open while frying, their filling will come out and spoil the entire batch.

You can replace 1/2 cup khoya with 1/2 cup roasted suji in the filling.

If you don’t have access to khoya, you can very well make mock khoya using milk powder.

 

Add some milk to milk powder and mix well until it is smooth and the consistency is the same as khoya.

 

And now use it in place of regular khoya.

Gujiya made using Sooji are more economical to make their shelf life is longer than mawa gujiya.

 

To make Sooji Gujiya, roast 1 cup sooji and then add dry fruits and sugar to it.

 

Use this mixture to fill the Gujiya.

To make Gujiya crispy, add some ghee in the flour as mentioned in the recipe and fry on medium-low heat.

Using a mold is the easy way to fold the Gujia. However, hand folding the edges was considered an art in olden days and if you are adept with the process, go for it.

To make baked Gujiya, preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Line the Gujiya on a baking sheet and brush them with ghee.

 

Bake for 15-20 minutes and then flip them upside down and bake for another 10-12 minutes.

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Keep the rolled disc in the gujiya mold.

Apply the sealant on the borders and press the mold.

 

Fill the cavity with filing.

Remove the extra dough from around. Remove the gujiya from the mold and store in a plate.

Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Deep fry the gujiyas on medium flame till lightly browned. Let the gujiyas cool before storing them in a airtight container.