Mawa Gujiya | A traditional Holi recipe

Mawa Gujiya is a crispy and flaky dumpling with coconut and mawa filling.  These dumplings are deep-fried or now baked due to health reasons. This recipe is made for festivals especially Holi which is around the corner.  In North India, Holi is incomplete without gujiyas and Carrot Khanji (close to Kamboocha here).

What is HOLI?

• festival of colors
• celebrates the arrival of spring
• lasts a night and day
• triumph of good over evil
• played with color and water

Back home I used to love playing Holi with my friends and family.  I still remember to this date, my mamas (maternal uncles) use to come over to our house almost at the end of the day.  By that time we are done cleaning up the house and showering, but nothing stopped them to play Holi with us.  We use to hide so we don’t have to shower again but nothing worked. Fun times which I cherish from my childhood.

You will find the full recipe on the recipe card below

Process of making Mawa Gujiya

• Making the dough: The dough for this is made with flour, ghee/oil, and water.  The dough shouldn/t be too soft or too firm.  Once the dough is made, let it rest for 30 mins covered with a damp paper or a kitchen towel.
• Making the filling:  The filling is made with khoya/mawa, coconut, sugar, and dry fruits.
• Shaping and Stuffing:  Once the dough and the filling are ready, we will roll out small discs, and using the gujiya shaper or by hand, we will get the gujiyas ready for frying.
• Frying:  This is the last step in making Gujiya.  Remember we have to fry them on medium to low heat for those crispy gujiyas.  If you fry them on high heat, they will cook from outside first and the inside of the dough will not be done.

Tips for making Mawa Gujiya

• The dough plays an important role in making Gujiyas. Just make a stiff dough and let it rest for 30-minutes and roll the puris for making the Gujiya.
• One of the key points of making Gujiya is frying them at the right temperature. So, make sure that you always fry the Gujiyas on medium to low heat.  This part needs a bit of patience, resulting in crispy gujiya.
• Never overfill the Gujiyas as they will break open on frying and not a fun thing when your frying oil looks like a mess.
• The last thing, you want to make sure that the edges are sealed properly.

Can you bake Gujiya?

Yes, you can!!!!  

This post was originally published on March 26th, 2014.  Just updated the pictures and content.

If you like the recipe, please comment below after you give it a try and share it on Facebook.  Would like to hear from you. Your comments, likes, dislikes, matters to me.  Thank you for stopping by!!

Happy Cooking!!!

Mawa Gujiya | A traditional Holi recipe

Sarika Gunjal

Mawa Gujiya, a traditional sweet made on the occasion of Holi especially in the Northern states of India to celebrate the arrival of spring.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings 20

Ingredients

  

• 1.5 cups of mawa I used store-bought
• 6 tsp desiccated coconut
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar
• 10-15 almonds slivered
• 1 tsp unsalted pistachios
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 7-8 tbsp oil moan
• water to knead the dough
• oil for frying
• 1 tsp ghee
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour for sealing paste

Instructions

 

• In a bowl, add the flour, oil, and rub with your palm and fingers and mix well. (You can test if there is enough moan in the flour by taking a little bit in your hand, if the flour stays together then it is perfect.
• Add just enough water to make the dough, not too soft and not too hard. Divide the dough and shape it into small balls. Keep aside covered for half an hour.
• Meanwhile, heat a pan, add ghee along with grated mawa or khoya, and cook until it turns golden brown. Make sure you keep stirring otherwise it will burn easily. Now add the powdered sugar, desiccated coconut, and slivered almonds and pistachios. Mix well.
• Set the mixture aside to cool. Also use 1 tbsp of all purpose to make a sealing paste by adding a a teaspoon of water. It should be thick and not too runny.
• Now, roll each ball with the rolling pin into a small thin puri. Add about a tablespoon of the mawaa mixture on one side of the round puri. Wet your finger and run it along the edges of the spread-out dough with water and fold over to the opposite end. Make sure the mixture is enclosed and forms a semi-circle-shaped gujiya. Press the ends firmly so that the filling doesn't come out during the deep-frying process and use a fork to seal the edges. I had the molds so I used those to seal the gujiya.
• Heat enough oil in a kadhai to deep fry the Gujiyas. Make sure the oil is over heated and heat is set on medium heat. Slowly drop 3-4 gujiyas into the oil and deep fry them on low to medium flame until crispy and golden brown. Turn them to cook the other side as well.
• Drain the gujiya on a paper towel so the excess oil is soaked. Your Gujiyas are ready to be served.

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