Mawa Gujjiya | Indian Sweet Hand Pies ( Step by Step Pics)

Diwali is right around the corner and in most of the homes,the preparations must have started too.The zeal,the lighting and the ambience creates a unique feel in this festive season.The halwaiis,sweet shops,fire work shops,gift shops,apparel stores may be having good business during this time in India..Though we don't celebrate Diwali but love admiring the festive feel of Diwali.I miss the Diwali's that we had at many places in North India as kids.I was always scared of pataka(fire crackers) but the lighter ones like chakra crackers,flower pots ones were the most liked ones.Every year dad ensured to buy the chakra and flower pot crackers just to keep us happy and didn't make us feel odd one out in the community.And dad's friends,my school friends always visited us with packs of sweets or homemade sweets.We(me and my sis) used to choose the best ones as soon as they leave and finish them off,he he.The other sweets lesser in demand were often left out in refrigerator for days and were the last ones to get over.Diwali time invariably was a big pile of sweet boxes in the refrigerator.Winding through the memories of Diwali,I do miss all those days now esp the delicious sweets.

Mawa gujjiya was one of the sweets among the gifted ones from my friends especially during Holi time.I am not a sweet tooth and so gujjiya,burfis were my childhood favorites unlike gulab jamun,rasagullas,jalebis that dripped sugar. My love for gujjiyas made my mom try these from homemade mawa and we loved it very much. But now,when I asked her the recipe she remembers the ingredients but the actual measures were forgotten.Then,I looked online for the filling measures and found one which almost fitted to the same like mom made.I never got a chance to have these again in these many years(esp after marriage).When I made the home made mawa at home,I thought to give these a try.And that was a good decision,all loved it especially my little who has a big sweet tooth has demanded to make it again soon.Mawa gujjiyas are sweet pies filled with reduced milk(mawa),sugar,dry fruits,nuts and semolina.The filling itself makes me drool,loved every bit of it.Mawa gujjiyas are also known as'chandrakala' in some places like Bangalore and these fried gujjiyas are dipped in a sugar syrup and garnished with sliced almonds and served as chandrakala.Though Gujjiyas are popular during Holi but I thought Diwali may also be a good option to post.I used a mix of wheat and all purpose flour(maida) but originally only maida is used.Also there are many variations in the filling for gujjiyas too.Some make the coconut stuffed gujjiya thats already in my space,some do the mawa filling alone and I did a mix of both as I remember this taste most.Do try if you like gujjiyas and enjoy !!

Preparation time~ 30 mins
Cooking time~ 30 mins
Serves ~15-17 gujjiyas
Ingredients
for cover
all purpose flour(maida) 1 cup
wheat flour 1/2 cup
salt to taste
ghee 1tbsp

for filling
unsweetened mawa(khoya) 200gms(1 cup)
semolina/sooji/rava fine 3-4tbsp
cashew nuts 1tbsp
almonds 1tbsp
walnuts 1tbsp
raisins 1tbsp
dates 5
apricot 3
cardamom powder/elaichi powder 1/2 tsp
powdered sugar 1/2 cup(I used 1/3 cup)
ghee 1tsp

Method

• Chop the nuts and dry fruits in small pieces,keep aside.
• Dry roast the sooji/rava in a pan on medium flame by stirring for 2-3 mins.Keep aside in a plate.
• In a bowl,add the all purpose flour(maida),wheat flour,salt ,ghee and mix well.Add in water and make a stiff dough like we do in chapathi dough.Leave aside covered for 20 mins and in the mean time make the filling.

• Heat ghee in a pan and add the crumbled mawa on low heat.Keep stirring and add in powdered sugar.The mawa starts to melt down and combines well with the sugar.If you plan to leave out semolina or sooji then dry up the mawa mixture else leave moisture slightly and switch off flame.

• Add the cardamom powder,semolina,dry fruits and nuts.Give a quick mix to combine,leave to cool(The filling may turn hard slightly as semolina absorbs moisture but not to worry as they are fried the filling returns back to moist and delicious).
• After 20 mins,make equal sized 15-16 balls.Keep covered.Dust the rolling surface with flour and using a rolling pin,roll out the ball in a disc of 3" diameter(don't make discs very thin).Add a tbsp of prepared  filling in the center and cover the ends to form semi circle.If it doesn't stick together,add a drop of water to wet the sides and then stick.Using a fork,press the sides or crimp the edges to form a decoration.I had a hand pie mould and so made in that and some with forks.Crimping the edges gives a neat clean look but the edges take longer time to cook though(see pics for better understanding).

• Place the prepared one on a plate and keep covered else it may dry up.After making 5-6 of them,heat up oil in a wok/kadai and keep on medium flame.Start sliding the prepared gujjiyas in,once the oil is hot.Flip and turn the gujjiyas to evenly brown all sides,drain with a slotted spoon to layers of paper towel(I fried a batch more browner than the first batch,browning totally depends on how you like it).Repeat the same step until you finish preparing all the gujjiyas.
• Fry all the gujjiyas,drain on paper towels and serve or store in air tight containers.

NOTES
* Don't use icing sugar for powdered sugar as it has corn starch.I powdered the granulated sugar in the blender jar.
* You can use your desired dry fruits nad nuts or as per availability.
* Adding sooji /semolina is optional.Adding gives a nice texture to the filling and increases the filling quantity slightly.
* The sealing of the gujjiyas is very important and make sure the filling doesn't creep out.Use a drop of water on the edges to ensure proper sealing.
* Don't overfill the gujjiyas else it may break open when frying.
*The dough shouldn't be rolled out very thin and also make sure to get the sides thinner than the inner circle else the sides may take longer to cook.
* If you plan to make large batches and store for days,then its better to use all purpose flour alone as it tends to be crispy longer but if you wish to make a small batch as I did then adding wheat flour is fine.
* If you want to dip these in sugar syrup after frying like we do for chandrakala,then boil a cup of sugar with 1/4 cup water in a pan and wait till it reaches one string consistency.Drop the fried gujjiyas in sugar syrup directly like we do for badusha.And then garnish with sliced almonds.
* The filling recipe is adapted from here.