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Today I am sharing a wonderful Indian sweet ‘ Gujiya/ karanji’ some people called it karanji, both are almost the same. Gujiya is a sweet fried dumpling that is filled with a mixture of milk solids (mawa/khoya) and nuts.

One more recipe in festival series, we celebrate Holi with great enthusiasm and josh. Moreover, All around we feel joy and love. Morning of Holi is a carnival of colours. Where everyone plays, chase and colour each other with dry herbal colours and coloured water. Finally, After playing holi all of us visit our friends and family to colour each other, laugh and chit chat. Then share holi delicacies, food and drinks. Moreover, This festival is a day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive and to repair ruptured relationships. So friends enjoy this special festival with lots of delicacies and with Minal’s spice world.

What is the difference between karanji or gujiya?

The only difference is mawa is not used in karanji but gujiya is full of mawa. Karanji is a traditional sweet of Maharashtra filled with semolina, coconut, spices, and nuts. Whereas, gujiya is full of mawa and mewa (dry fruits). Mawa is a dried evaporated milk solids.

What If mawa is not readily available?

If Mawa is not available on your part–

you can use ricotta cheese instead of taste is almost the same but mawa is better.
Or you can make mawa easily at home.

To make the mawa at home, milk is slowly simmered in a large iron Kadai, till all it’s moisture evaporates and it reduces to solids.

What is gujiya/ karanji?

As you all know by now, If you are following my posts that being in the army we keep moving around the country. From station to station you can see diversity in Indian food culture with lots of similarities too. Like when we talk about Gujiya every state has its own version of the sweet.

Gujiya is a sweet fried dumpling made from all-purpose flour and filled with khoya/mawa, which is milk solids and nuts. However, It is known by different names like ghughra in Gujarat, and karanji in Maharashtra. It is also called Pedakiya in Bihar, Karanji in Maharashtra, Karachika in Tamil Nadu, Karjikayi in Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, Gujiya in the Northern state of India. In Goa, Goan Hindus prepare it on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi and are known as Nevris. It has different names across different states in India.

Like the names are different from region to region, the method of making this recipe is also different. In some regions, they make it with only sooji and nuts, some make it with coconut and sooji, etc.

My version:

But I make this Indian dessert filled with sweet stuffing made of mawa, suji, coconut, dry fruit, and cardamom powder. Interestingly, this particular mixture is not traditionally made in any part of the country but is in fact a mix of all the different traditional stuffings. It’s one of those traditional Indian dessert recipes that is made with lots of love and patience – Yes, patience is the key factor. We have been making the fried version of this recipe ever since I could remember anything about cooking or making food.

Before we proceed further, I would like to suggest you a few more recipes from my blog

Step by step recipe

Take 4 cups of all-purpose flour/maida and salt in a bowl. Heat 4 tbsp ghee in a small pan or bowl. Pour the ghee on the flour.
Meanwhile, In a pan roast suji for 3-4 min.
Roast dry fruits except for coconut , raisins, and kalonji.
Rub the ghee with the flour, with your fingertips to form a bread crumb like texture.
Then add ⅓ to ½ cup water in parts and begin to knead. the amount of water needed will depend on the quality and texture of flour.
knead the dough till firm.
cover with a moist cloth and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Chop 1 cup dry fruits and keep aside.
Melt 1 tbsp ghee in a pan on a low flame. Add 3 cup crumbled or grated khoya.
Stir the khoya continuously on low heat.
cook the khoya till it begins to gather around itself. switch off the flame and keep the pan down. let the khoya stuffing cool down completely.
Add 3 cups of powdered sugar, roasted suji or semolina, chop dry fruits, raisins, shredded/ grated coconut, and ½ tsp cardamom powder. better to sieve the powdered sugar if there are lumps.
Mix everything well and keep the stuffing aside. check the taste and add more sugar if you prefer.
Divide the dough into two parts. Make a medium log of each part and slice it into equal parts. Roll each part in your palms to form a ball. prepare the dough balls this way and place them in the same bowl. cover with a moist kitchen towel.
Dust the rolling board lightly with some flour. roll each ball with the rolling pin to a small circle having 4 to 5 inches diameter. Use oil to roll a ball do not use flour for dusting.
With your fingertip or pastry brush, apply water all over the circumference edge. Place about 1tbsp or 1.5 tbsp of the khoya filling on one side of the circle, keeping the edges empty. don’t add too much of stuffing as then its difficult to shape them and the gujiya may break in the oil.
Carefully, bring together both the edges and join. gently press the edges. the edges have to be pressed well so that the filling does not come out while frying.
you can use gujiya or karanji molds at this stage. when doing this method, it’s very important that the flap should not come between the hinges for that when you cover the other flap leave that area and you should see that gujiya is pressed u0026 sealed well. This stage is very impotent if you are making gujiya with molds otherwise filling will come out while frying and will spoil all your oil.
The neatly trimmed gujiya pic below. you can use a pizza cutter to trim and seal gujiya, or you can use a fork as shown in the picture … However, it’s best to make a pleated design at the edges. this way the stuffing does not come out while frying and the gujiyas look good too. just keep on folding and twisting the edges till the end. Both methods are easy. If you making it for the first time I am sure you will spoil 1 or 2 but don’t worry practice makes you perfect. we have also learned this way so relax.
prepare gujiyas this way and arrange them on a plate or tray. keep the guijyas covered with a moist napkin so that the dough does not dry out.
Baking method for gujiya:
preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius/390 degree Fahrenheit. brush oil or melted ghee on the gujiya evenly all over. place them in a baking tray, bake the gujiya for 20 to 30 minutes at 200 degrees celsius/390 degree Fahrenheit till they are golden. oven temperatures vary, so do keep a check while baking the gujiyas. place them on a wire rack for cooling. once cooled, store the baked gujiyas in an air-tight jar or box.
Frying method for gujiya:
23. heat oil for deep frying in a kadhai or pan. first test the temperature of oil, before frying. add a small piece of the dough in the oil. if the dough comes up gradually, then the oil is ready. if the dough sits at the bottom, the oil is still cold. if the piece of dough comes up briskly and quickly, the oil is too hot. Gently slid the gujiyas in oil. just add a few pieces and don’t overcrowd. depending on the size of the pan/kadhai, you can fry 2 to 3 gujiyas at a time.
24. Turn them over carefully and fry the other side. deep fry them till the gujiyas have become golden. Drain on kitchen paper tissues. fry gujiyas this way and once they are cooled completely, store them in an air-tight box.