Diwali Special Sweet Delight | Crispy & Flaky Gujiya Recipe for Diwali

Make your own Gujiya this Diwali and enjoy the festivities! These crispy Gujiya taste and feel far better than the ones you can buy at the shop. These flaky, golden sweets are packed with a rich, aromatic mix of khoya, almonds, coconut, and cardamom.In this post, I explain the fastest way to prepare crispy and tasty gujiya that can be fried in oil, baked in the oven, or air-fried.

When you make these Gujiya at home, you’ll see how much better they taste and feel than the ones you buy at the store. The air-fried and baked versions are just as good as the fried ones. I thought the non-fried ones were best dipped or coated with the sugar syrup, chasni, unless you like things that are medium to low sweet. So I’ll let you make the sugar syrup if you want. Make Gujiya, the star sweet of Diwali, at home to celebrate the Festival of Lights.

About Gujiya

Gujiya is a tasty puff pastry that is deep-fried and filled with a mix of khoya (milk solids), almonds, grated coconut, sugar, and crushed cardamom. It is a classic North Indian dish that is often cooked for Diwali and Holi.
Gujiya are shaped like half moons, and the way they are made is similar to the Maharashtrian karanji and South Indian Chandrakala, but the contents are different. Karanji filling is mostly comprised of semolina and coconut, while Gujiya filling is mostly made of khoya, which is also called mawa.

Traditionally, khoya is made by boiling down high-fat milk until all the moisture is gone. Most Indian families buy khoya from the store because it takes a long time to make. You can find it in the freezer section of Indian grocery stores and supermarkets. It is also known as milk solids or mawa.

Ingriedients & Substitutes

• Khoya/ mawa: I Use pure cow milk for making mava you can use any other store brought  milk or mava .
• Flour: These are usually made with maida, a type of all-purpose flour. This gives the gujiya a flaky, crisp texture and a flavor that isn’t too strong. If you mix equal amounts of wheat flour/atta and all-purpose flour, you should obtain good results. If you simply want to use wheat flour, you need to sift it three times and throw away some of the bran. Otherwise, your gujiya won’t stay crisp for as long.
• Ghee and oil: Use ghee to make the crust for the moyan. Using ghee will keep your gujiyas from becoming oil-soaked and flavorful. Try using unrefined peanut or coconut oil as an alternative if  that’s not possible.
• Suji: A little bit of fine semolina will soak up any extra moisture in the khoya and keep the filling dry. If your khoya is too wet, it could make the gujiyas open up while frying. Suji also makes things crunchy, which is great. But if you think your mawa doesn’t have too much moisture after roasting, you can use 2 tablespoons of chopped nuts instead.
• Mixed nuts: They make the filling crunchy.

How to make Gujiya in step by step guide

Lets Make the filling

1. Add the following ingredients to a small grinder jar and grind them into a very fine powder:

• ⅓ cup of sugar from plants
• 1/2 teaspoon of seeds from 10 green cardamoms (or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of crushed cardamom)
• ¼ teaspoon of crushed or grated nutmeg or jaiphal and 1 strand of mace (optional)

2. To make the filling, you will need these things:

• 1½ tablespoons (23 ml) of ghee
• 1/4 cup of chopped mixed nuts (40 grams, which is 8 almonds, 8 cashews, and 10 pistas, plus 1 tablespoon of chironji seeds if you want)
• ¼ cup of shredded coconut that isn’t sweet (optional; 25 grams of dried coconut or copra)
• 1½ tablespoons of fine semolina or sooji (18 grams) or 2 extra tablespoons of nuts
• 200 grams of unsweetened mawa or khoya (milk solids). I use amul.

3. In a wide pan, heat half a tablespoon of ghee and then add the khoya.
4. Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes.
5. At first, it gets sticky, but then it cooks down and loses its moisture, making it drier. Put on a plate and let it cool down.
6. In the meantime, heat the last tablespoon of ghee and cook the chopped nuts for one to two minutes, or until they are brown. Add the rava and dried coconut to the mix. Fry on low to medium heat until the sooji is light golden and crispy. I need four more minutes. Turn off the stove and let it cool down all the way.
7. Mix the cold mawa/khoya with the other cooled ingredients: rava, coconut, and fried almonds. Before adding the mawa, make sure all the cooked components are cold.
8. Combine four to five teaspoons of the powdered sugar. Taste and adjust the amount according to your tastes. I used up all the sugar that I ground. Your filling should be sweeter than you usually like because the crust or cover isn’t sweetened.
9. The filling should be dry.Make the dough to cover
10. take 2 cups of organic all-purpose flour or maida (250 grams) into a big mixing bowl. You may also use 1 cup of atta and 1 cup of maida.
    1/8 teaspoon of sea salt or table salt, 60 ml of ghee (¼ cup)

11.  Use your fingers to mix the ghee and flour together until they look like bread crumbs. This takes around three or four minutes. Take a small amount of flour and make a fist by pressing down with your fingertips. It should keep its shape and not shatter, as seen in the picture. This signifies that the flour has enough fat or moyan.

12. To make the dough, you will need a little more than ⅓ cup (80 ml) of water. Add water a bit at a time until the dough is not sticky but a touch stiff. It shouldn’t be too dry or crumbly, and it shouldn’t be too mushy like roti dough. I used 1 to 2 tbsp extra. You can need a little more or less, depending on the weather and the type of flour you use.

13. At this point, don’t knead. Put a lid on it and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes.

14. Knead the dough for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it is soft and stretchy, before shaping the gujiya. Don’t do it too much.

     

Shape the Gujia

1. Cut the gujiya dough into 15 equal pieces, each weighing about 24 to 25 grams. Knead for a minute and then roll the dough between your palms to make smooth balls. Don’t work the dough too much. Put a plate over the bowl to keep them warm.
2. You won’t need to use dry flour while rolling because the dough has a lot of fats and ghee in it. Put a ball of dough on a rolling board and roll it out until it is a bit bigger than 4 inches. Cut the puri with a 4-inch cookie cutter or a steel lid. Take off the extra dough from around the edges and cover it up so you can use it again later.
3. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a dish or tray and transfer the gujiya puri to it. To prevent them from drying out, turn over a big dish to cover. Stack all of the puris after you’ve made them. The high fat content means they won’t stick.
4. In the middle of the rolled puri, add 2-3 teaspoons of gujiya filling. To Spread it over the edges, dip your finger in water. The filling may leak out when frying if you stuff them too full, so be careful not to overfill. Your Gujiya puri’s filling should be proportional to its size. Evaluate appropriately.
5. Shape into a half moon or semicircle by folding.
6. To keep the filler in place, carefully press down the edges. Make sure not to press down the edges too thinly, since they have the potential to shatter when fried.
7. After transferring the gujiya to a cutting board, use a fork or the wheel of a pastry cutter to press down the edges.
8. When going from one end to the other, make little folds alternately. (watch the movie). Before placing the puri in a greased gujiya mold, fill it halfway up the sides and push down.
9. After shaping the gujiyas, set them on a deep tray and cover them with linen or an additional tray to keep them covered. They could explode while frying if left to dry. Form each gujiya in this manner. Depending on your preference, you can either use the remaining dough to make savory diamond slices or gujiya.

Fry The Gujia

Once you have shaped and prepared Your first batch of gujiyas to fry you can begin to heat the oil. Prepare the next batch of gujiyas by filling and shaping them while the oil is heating.

1. Put oil in a big frying pan or a medium-sized heavy-bottomed kadai. Bring it to a Moderately high Temperature (medium hot) over medium-low heat. If you drop a little dough ball into the oil, it should sink to the bottom and make Only a few little Bubbles. See the Picture down below. Be careful it doesn’t get too hot. The Gujiyas will either open Up if the Oil isn’t hot enough or brown without heating the pastry dough from the inside, making them softer.
2. Carefully slide each one in sequence. As many as your pan will hold, add them. I fry four or five in every batch. Leave them alone in a low heat Pan for 12 minutes. Stay away from Them. They will float and be sufficiently solid at the 10- to 12-minute mark. Lower the heat to medium and spin the pan around using a spider.
3. Keep stirring until the Mixture turns Into an even light Golden color and becomes crisp. Avoid browning them. Depending on the type of pan you use the Intensity of the heat and the quantity of Oil it can take Longer or shorter than 8 Minutes for me. Be careful at the 16-minute mark; it takes me about 18–20 minutes. Transfer to a Rack to cool. Fry the next batch of Gujiya after the oil temperature has cooled down.
   After cooling, transfer to an Airtight glass or steel container and leave at room temperature for three days. You may store them in the fridge for up to a week, but you’ll need to reheat them before they get crispy. Crisp up by reheating in the oven or air fryer. Serve topped with rose petals, sliced almonds, pistachios, and edible silver (vark).
   Scroll down to the sugar syrup part if you wish to dip them in it.

Chashni (Sugar Syrup)

1. Add 1 cup of sugar in a pot or kadai and ¾ cup of water. Add a pinch of saffron strands and Half a teaspoon of cardamom powder. Stir the sugar into the water until it dissolves then bring to a rolling boil. Cook it until it gets a little sticky.
2. Take half a teaspoon of syrup and let it cool down a bit. Then, dip your fingertips in the syrup to see if it works. When it’s sticky, it’s done. Warm the syrup up a Little bit.
3. After a few minutes in the hot Syrup drop the gujiyas into it and Set them aside to cool. Edible silver, rose petals, and sliced nuts make a lovely garnish.
4. To satisfy your sweet craving, feel free to add extra powdered sugar. Feel free to sweeten the filling to your liking if you find the crust to be bland As the topping is not sweetened.
5. Similar to samosa or kachori dough, the dough must be stiff. It is very important to only use water when you need to. If you add more, the dough will become as soft as roti dough. When frying gujiya in hot oil, the extra moisture causes it to form numerous tiny bubbles, which can be easily torn off.
6. Shape and lightly knead the dough until it forms nice balls. Not adding extra water will make the dough smoother; rolling it between your palms is the way to go.
7. It is crucial that you do not overwork the dough. When you overknead the dough, big bubbles will form on top of the gujiyas when you fry or air fried them.
8. Bring the dough to room temperature before shaping, although you may refrigerate it for up to two days if you’re planning to air fry it.
   If you have a little extra filling, you can eat it plain or mix it with a little milk to make ladoo.

Related Sweets Recipe

Kaju Katli

Doodh Peda

Gulab Jamun

Motichoor Ladoo

Your One-Stop Destination for Every Kind of Recipe