Gujiya Recipe for Diwali

These Gujiya are the best you can make this Diwali! They are crispy, flaky and delicious with a great filling.

Prep Time30

Cook Time45

Total Time1 15

Servings: to 17 gujiyas

Author: Swasthi

2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour / maida (unbleached or organic, or use 50/50 atta & maida)
⅛ teaspoon sea salt or table salt
¼ cup (60 ml) ghee
⅓ cup (80 ml) water (+ 1 to 2 tbsps more as required)

200 grams unsweetened mawa/khoya (milk solids, crumbled with hand)
1½ tablespoons (23 ml) ghee (divided ½+1)
¼ cup (40 grams) chopped nuts (8 almonds, 8 cashews, 10 pistas, opional - 1 tbsp chironji)
1½ tablespoons (18 grams) sooji/ fine semolina (or use 2 tbsps more chopped nuts)
¼ cup (25 grams) unsweetened shredded coconut (dried coconut, optional)
⅓ cup organic sugar (adjust to taste)
½ to 1 teaspoon ground green cardamom (or ½ teaspoon seeds from 10 green cardamoms)
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg/ jaiphal + 1 strand of mace (optional)

Heat a medium pan with ½ tbsp ghee and fry mawa for 8 to 10 mins. Transfer to a plate to cool down.
Add the remaining ghee and fry the nuts until light golden, for 1 to 2 mins. Stir in the rava and coconut. Fry on a low to medium heat until rava is light golden and crisp. (Takes about 4 mins). Turn off and cool down completely.
Meanwhile add sugar, cardamom seeds, mace and nutmeg to a small grinder and grind to a super fine powder.
Mix together cooled mawa, rava, coconut, and fried nuts. Stir in the powdered sugar, starting with lower amount and adjust to taste.

Mix together flour, salt and ghee with your fingers, until well incorporated & looks like bread crumbs.
Pour water little by little to form a non-sticky and slightly stiff dough. It should not be too dry as well. Cover and rest for 15 to 20 mins.
When you are ready to shape the gujiya, knead the dough for 3 mins until elastic and pliable.

Divide into 15 portions. Knead for a min & roll to smooth balls in between your palms. Keep them covered in the bowl with a cloth or plate.
Place a dough ball on a rolling board and roll to a little larger than 4 inch even roti. Using a 4 inch cookie cutter or a steel lid cut to a puri. Remove the excess dough around and keep it covered to reuse later, at the end.
Transfer a puri to a parchment placed over a plate/tray. Make all the puris and stack them.
Spoon 2 to 3 teaspoons gujiya filling to the center of the puri. Dip your finger in water and smear across the edges.
Shape/fold it to a half moon/ semi-circle. Press down the edges to secure the filling. Place on a board and make design with a fork or a pastry cutter wheel or make small folds from one end to the other. Alternately you may use a greased gujiya mold to shape.
Transfer to a deep tray and keep the gujiyas covered with a cloth or a tray. This way shape all the gujiyas. Use up the remaing cut out dough and roll to a gujiya.

Heat oil in a deep pan/ kadai until slightly hot (medium hot). A small piece of dough added to the oil should sink down and create only a few small bubbles in the oil. (It should not be sizzling hot)
Gently slide as many gujiyas (one by one) as your pan fits (I fry 4 to 5) and let them fry for 12 mins on a low heat. Do not disturb/ touch them. When they are firm (at 10 to 12 mins mark), regulate the heat to medium and turn them to the other side with a spider.
Fry until golden and crisp. It takes me another 8 mins (total 16 to 20 mins, timing may vary). Remove to a cooling rack. Let the oil temperature come down before you fry the next batch of gujiya.

Preheat the air fryer to 360 F - 180 C for 5 mins. Place the gujiyas in the air fryer basket and air fry for 7 mins.
Turn them to the other side with a tong and air fry for 5 more mins.
Brush them with ghee or oil. Let cool down and brush sugar syrup if you want. Garnish with sliced nuts, crushed dried rose petals or varq.