MAWA GUJIYA
Diwali, the festival of lights is nearing up and so is the preparation of festival delicacies in every Indian household. Sweets and savories are a quintessential part of this festival.
Today I am sharing with you the recipe of Gujiya, a traditional crescent-shaped deep-fried sweet. The outer crispy yet flaky layer is made up of all-purpose flour. The stuffing is made with mawa(khoya/khoa), sugar, desiccated coconut, and dry fruits.
The addition of mawa makes Gujiya special and gives it its name Mawa Gujiya. Back in India, we get fresh mawa at shops easily not only in the festive season but all year round.
I have been in Kuwait for the past 14 years and I have to back upon the frozen mawa for making Indian sweets. At times that is also out of stock. But I can not resist myself making Indian sweets, so I make mawa from Nido milk powder. Believe me, the stuffing for Gujiya made with Nido milk powder mawa is tastes amazing.
What is Gujiya or Mawa gujiya ?
Gujiya is also known by various names like karanji, ghughra, or nevri in different parts of India with slight variations in stuffing and the outer cover.
The Gujiya stuffed with mawa as the main ingredient is Mawa Gujiya.
It is a traditional festive delicacy made on Diwali and Holi. The outer cover of Gujiya is made usually with all-purpose flour but some make it with wheat flour too. It is deep-fried in ghee or sometimes in ghee and oil mixture in a ratio of 1:1. The stuffing is sweetened with powdered sugar. To give texture to the stuffing I have added desiccated coconut and roasted sooji. Many people dip the gujiya in sugar solution after frying but it is totally up to you, how you like your gujiya to be.
How to make Gujiya ?
The whole process of making gujiya can be divided into three steps
1. Making the dough- The dough of the gujiya is made with all-purpose flour, ghee, and chilled water. The addition of ghee and chilled water gives you crispy and flaky gujiya.
2. Making the stuffing- The main flavour of gujiya comes with its sweet stuffing, the addition of mawa, nuts and raisins, desiccated coconut makes the gujiya delectable.
3. Stuffing and frying the gujiya- Do not overstuff the gujiya and always fry it on low flame to get perfect gujiya. Frying on the high flame will give you soggy and uncooked gujiya from inside. Do not rush in this step. You can fry gujiya in ghee but I have fried in 50% ghee and 50 % oil.
Cuisine : Indian
Course : Dessert
Prep time : 45 minutes
Cooking time : 40 minutes
Servings : 16-18 in no.
Ingredients
For making mawa
1/2 Cup nido milk powder
1/4 Cup milk
1 Tbsp ghee
For making dough
1 Cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbspsemolina
4 Tbsp ghee
1/4 cup + 2 1/2 Tbsp chilled water
Other ingredients for stuffing
3 Tbsp chopped mixed nuts(almond and cashew)
18-20 raisins
1 Tsp cardamom powder
Few strands of saffron
3 Tbsp powdered sugar
2 Tbsp desiccated coconut
1 Tbsp semolina
A mixture of all-purpose flour and water in equal amounts to seal the gujiyas
Oil and ghee in equal amounts for frying gujiya
Instructions
To make mawa
In a microwave-safe bowl add milk powder and milk and mix it well with the help of a spoon.
Next, add ghee and mix it well.
Keep it in the microwave on full power for 2 min and 30 sec, taking out each time after a minute and giving a quick stir.
Once the milk dries out, you get the mawa. Keep it aside to use it later.
To make dough
In a bowl add flour, semolina, and ghee. Rub with your fingers to incorporate ghee in the flour and semolina mixture nicely to resemble a coarse sand-like texture.
Press the flour in between your fist it will hold the shape.
Add chilled water in parts to knead a still dough.
Cover and keep the dough aside for about 30 minutes.
To make stuffing
Roast the semolina on low flame for 5 minutes till it turns slightly golden in color.
Roast the desiccated coconut just for a minute on low flame.
Roast the chopped mixed nuts till fragrant.
Add semolina, desiccated coconut, mixed nuts, cardamom powder, saffron, powdered sugar to the mawa prepared with nido milk powder before. Mix it well to make the stuffing ready.
To stuff and seal gujiya using Mould
On the surface dusted with flour place a small golf size ball of the dough.
Roll it out little thick like puri.
Take the mould in your hand place the rolled out dough over it.
Apply the mixture of all-purpose flour and water on the edges.
Place the stuffing in the cavity formed.
Flip the other end of the mould and press so seal the edges.
Trim of the extra edges.
Carefully lift the gujiya from the mould to deep fry on low flame.
To stuff and seal gujiya without Mould
On the surface dusted with flour place a small golf size ball of the dough.
Roll it out little thick like puri.
With the help of a steel bowl with sharp edges cut out a perfect circle.
Apply the mixture of all-purpose flour and water on the edges.
Place the stuffing in one half of the rolled and cut out dough.
Flip the other half to cover the stuffing and get a crescent-shaped gujiya.
Use a fork to secure the edges and make imprints on the edges.
The gujiya is ready to fry.
To fry the gujiya
Heat oil and ghee mixture. Once the oil-ghee mixture is hot add 3-4 gujiya in the kadai/pan. Do not overcrowd the kadai/pan.
Over low flame flipping frequently fry the gujiya.
Fry gujiya till golden and crisp, this may take 10-12 minutes.
Remove it on absorbent paper to drain the excess oil.
Have I told you......IT' S FANTASTIC
Try out other Diwali delicacies, you may also like
If you’ve tried this festival recipe, Mawa Gujiya then do mention in comments how it came out. I would love to hear from you.
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