Nothing makes Holi complete like this homemade Gujiya recipe packed with the goodness of coconut and a delicious mawa filling. This crispy and flaky deep-fried turnover pastry is a popular North Indian treat made during the festive season.
One bite of these personal-sized gujiyas will leave you craving for more! Plus, these gujiyas make the perfect festive gift to give to friends and family.
As spring nears, every Indian household gears up to celebrate the most colorful festival of the year – Holi!
Holi, also known as Basant Utsav (Spring Festival), is celebrated across India with great cheer and happiness.
One of the best parts of Holi, besides getting saturated with gulaal, is its mouthwatering sweet and savory snacks.
There is no denying that sweets and savories are an Indian festival mainstay.
Whether it be Holi or Diwali, we cannot imagine celebrations and festivities in India without an array of Indian fusion recipes like Thandai mousse gulab jamun cups, Holi Cannoli – Shahi tukda cannoli, Gulab jamun yogurt tart, Thandai drink, and with gujiya being the most favorite one.
This traditional Gujiya is a must-have at the Holi celebration.
What is Gujiya?
Shaped like a crescent or half-moon, gujiya is a deep-fried flaky dumpling stuffed with a sweet filling of mawa, dry fruits, coconut, and sugar.
In short, it is the Indian version of empanadas that are packed with a sweet filling.
The sweet filling in the gujiya recipe varies insignificantly across India, and it even goes by many different names, including:
- Karanji in Maharashtra. This similarly shaped gujiya is stuffed with a coconut filling that contains no mawa.
- Ghughra in Gujarat
- Nevri in Goa
- Kajjikaya in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and
- Purukiya in Bihar.
But no matter whatever name you choose to call it by, it’s so delicious and addictive that you’ll fall in love with it at the first bite!
The fool-proof gujiya recipe that I am sharing with you is Chashni wali mawa gujiya – from Rajasthan.
Ingredient list for Gujiya Recipe
This gujiya recipe is all made from basic ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. This part explains the role of each element in this recipe. Please scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this page for a complete list of ingredients with detailed measurements.
» Flour — For the outer crust, I have used all-purpose flour as it gives great results. However, you can use a combo of wheat flour and all-purpose flour to make gujiyas.
» Ghee — Ghee is added to the flour before kneading as it acts as a moyan ( the fat that is added to the flour while kneading) and lends a khasta/crispy texture to our gujiyas. Ghee is also used in the recipe for frying. For that authentic taste, always fry gujiyas in ghee. But, you can use any flavorless oil as a substitute.
» Salt — Just a pinch is added to the dough to bring out the flavors.
» Mawa + unsweetened desiccated coconut — the combo of these two and mixed nuts makes the filling. I have used homemade mawa for this recipe. You can find the recipe here.
» Sugar — Both powdered sugar and granulated sugar are used in this recipe. Powdered sugar to flavor our mawa mixture and granulated sugar to coat the gujiyas.
» Mixed Nuts — I have used a blend of raisins, slivered almonds, cashews, and charoli nuts. But feel free to add whatever you have on hand.
» Cardamom powder — It gives the gujiyas a delicious flavor boost.
» Saffron strands — Saffron lends a very subtle flavor and a beautiful yet pale color to our mawa mixture.
How to Make Crispy Gujiya Recipe?
Making Gujiya is a 4 step process. The first step involves making the dough; seconds comes the filling; third – shaping the gujiya, and finally, the last step – frying the gujiya.
I like to step up the process by soaking my gujiyas in sugar syrup, but again it’s an optional step.
If you like, you can skip the soaking part and enjoy the fried gujiyas. Soaked or not-soaked, either way, they will taste amazing.
Step:1 – Make Dough for Gujiya
Sift flour and salt in a mixing bowl, add ghee to the bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the flour and ghee together until the mixture resembles-like breadcrumbs.
Slowly add lukewarm water to the flour and knead it into a firm dough. The dough should feel soft yet stiff but not sticky. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes.
This is a required step. Please do not skip through this process. The dough will become more firm as the gluten develops and flour gets hydrated, resulting in crisper gujiyas.
Step:2 – Stuffing for Gujiya
Add ghee to a pan, add slivered almonds, charoli nuts, cashews, and raisins. Roast them for 5-6 minutes on a low flame until fragrant. Once done, take the pan off the flame and allow them to cool. Transfer the nuts (leave the raisins) to a grinder and grind them into the fine powder. Set aside.
Add ghee to the same pan; as it melts, add mawa/khoya and roast it for about 2-3 minutes. Once done, take it off the flame and set it aside to cool.
Now, add coconut, powdered sugar, ground nuts, cardamom powder, and raisins to the mawa.
Mix until all the ingredients are fully incorporated. The mixture will be fine textured and should feel soft when rubbed in between fingers. Cover and set it aside to cool.
Step:3 – Shaping the Gujiyas
Divide the gujiya dough into equal-sized balls. Cover the rest of the dough balls with a kitchen cloth and set them aside.
Take one ball and roll it into a 5-inch disc. Place a tablespoon full of mawa filling in the center of the rolled-out dough. Leave the space around the edges.
Moisten the edge of the dough with water.
Lift the dough’s topside and fold it all the way over the rest of the dough to cover the mawa filling, press, and seal the edges well.
There are 2 ways to seal the gujiyas
1. Gujiya mold – This is the easier and fastest method. Place the folded gujiya in a gujiya mold. Press the mold until the edges are pinched together, and the gujiya is sealed. Remove the excess dough from the sides.
2. Traditional pleats – It’s done by hand and requires a lot of patience and practice to get the perfect pleats. Take a folded gujiya and minutely bend the sealed edges around the rim of the gujiya to make pleats ( please pardon my pleating skills, I am still learning 😊).
This is the most efficient method as the pleats prevent the filling from coming out during frying.
Repeat the process with the rest of the dough until all the gujiyas are shaped.
To prevent drying, keep the shaped gujiyas covered with a kitchen cloth at all times.
Step:4 – Frying the gujiyas
Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan. Once the ghee is moderately hot, gently slide in the gujiyas and deep-fry them until golden brown and crisp. Each batch takes somewhere around 12-15 minutes of frying time.
Once cooked, remove from ghee and set them on a kitchen paper towel.
Fry all the gujiyas in a similar manner. Mawa gujiyas are ready to be served.
If you do not prefer to soak them in sugar syrup, then serve them as is garnished with edible dried rose petals and dry nuts.
Step:5 – Soak the Gujiyas
Combine sugar, water, cardamom powder, and saffron in a pan. Bring it to a boil.
Our main purpose is to melt the sugar; we are not looking for a sugar consistency here. Therefore, cook the syrup for about 5-6 minutes on a low flame. After the desired cooking time is over, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.
Dip the fried gujiyas in the warm sugar syrup for a few seconds. Coat it well. Remove from sugar syrup and set aside.
Coat the rest of the gujiyas in the sugar syrup and set them aside. Jazz them up crushed pistachios, silver leaf, edible dried rose petals, and serve.
Tips to make the best Gujiya Recipe
» Ghee — Use the exact amount of moyan/moen to the gujiya dough. To check if your moyan (fat content in dough) is just right, take some dough and press it in between your fist; if it takes the shape of your fist, you are all set. But, if it crumbles and falls apart, then you need a little more to attain that texture.
» Moyan — For crispy textured gujiyas, moyan (addition of fat to the dough while kneading) is extremely important. I would suggest using ghee; however, you can substitute coconut oil for ghee.
» Gujiya dough — Allow the dough to rest for at least 20 minutes for best results.
» Water — Always use lukewarm water for kneading the gujiya dough.
» Cover — Keep your gujiya dough and shaped balls covered at all times to prevent drying.
» Sugar — Add the sugar quantity that is mentioned in the recipe. Too much sugar will harden the filling.
» Roast the nuts — Do not forget to roast the dry nuts in a wee bit of ghee. Roasting nuts release their essential oils and bring out their fullest flavor. It maximizes their taste and is later crushed to the ideal consistency and texture.
» Cool the filling — Make sure the mawa filling is cooled completely before you stuff it inside the gujiya dough.
» Filling — Do not overfill the gujiya with filling; if too much mawa filling is added to the gujiya, it will break apart in frying.
» Seal and secure — To avoid a mess, always make sure your gujiyas are sealed well before adding them to the hot ghee. Apply a little water around the edges of the dough and seal; apply more water if needed.
» Oil temperature — Do not fry the gujiyas on high heat. The oil should be low to medium-hot. Frying them in hot oil will result in uncooked gujiyas. Likewise, if the gujiyas are cooked in moderately hot oil, they will soak up oil.
» Gujia breaks during frying — If your gujiyas disperse during frying, then there no redemption for that. You need to pause your cooking and allow the ghee to cool down completely. Strain the ghee to remove all the filling and start over.
» Soak the gujiyas — We don’t want overly sweet sugar-saturated gujiyas; therefore, dip the gujiyas in the sugar syrup for a few seconds, move around to coat, and remove.
» Fry Gujiyas in ghee for the BEST flavor.
» Pan —You a wide pan to fry the gujiyas and allow room for the gujiyas to float around during frying. Do not overcrowd the pan; fry the gujiyas in small batches.
Can I bake the Gujiya recipe?
You most certainly can! Preheat oven to 350°F. Lay the shaped gujiyas in a single layer on a greased baking tray. Brush the gujiyas with ghee on both sides.
Transfer the baking tray with gujiyas to the preheated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a nice golden brown is attained. Remember to turning them halfway through the baking time.
Once baked, remove them from the oven and set them on the counter to cool. Devour them as is, or coat them in the sugar syrup and enjoy!
How to store leftover Gujiyas?
Cooled mawa gujiyas can be stored in an airtight container for about a week at room temperature. After that, the mawa gujiya needs refrigeration. They will stay good for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.
Store the Chasni wali mawa gujiya in the fridge in an airtight container. Do not crowd the container or press down hard while storing, as it may cause the outer crust to break. Store them in a single layer in the container.
Let Me Know What You Think!
I hope you try this delicious Gujiya recipe this festive season, and I assure you that its subtly sweet flavor will make it a guaranteed hit with your family.
Should you make this Gujiya recipe, please let me know your thoughts by sharing your comment below.
And don’t forget to share it with your family and friends.
Craving for more, try my other festive recipe:
Gujiya Recipe
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE GUJIYA DOUGH
- 1½ cup All Purpose Flour
- ¼ cup Ghee
- – – A pinch of Salt
- ¼ cup Lukewarm water + 3 tablespoons extra to knead the dough
GUJIYA FILLING
- 1 tablespoons Ghee
- ¾ cup Mawa
- ¼ cup Unsweetend desiccated Coconut
- ½ cup Powdered Sugar + 2 tablespoons extra adjust to taste
- ½ tablespoons Ghee
- 1 tablespoon Raisins
- 1½ pieces of Slivered Almonds
- 1 tablespoon Cashews
- ¾ tablespoon Charoli Nuts
- ½ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- ½ teaspoon Toasted Saffron strands
- – – Ghee for frying
SUGAR SYRUP – OPTIONAL
- ½ cup Sugar
- 4 tablespoons Water
- ½ teaspoon Green Cardamom powder
- 1 teaspoon Rose water
- ⅛ teaspoon Saffron strands
INSTRUCTIONS
GUJIYA DOUGH
- Sift flour and salt in a mixing bowl, add ghee to the bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the flour and ghee together until the mixture resembles-like breadcrumbs.
- Slowly add lukewarm water to the flour and knead it into a firm dough. The dough should feel soft yet stiff but not sticky.
- Cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes. This is a required step. Please do not skip through this process. The dough will become more firm as the gluten develops and flour gets hydrated, resulting in crisper gujiyas.
GUJIYA MIXTURE
- Add ghee to a pan, add slivered almonds, charoli nuts, cashews, and raisins. Roast them for 5-6 minutes on a low flame until fragrant.
- Once done, take the pan off the flame and allow them to cool. Transfer the nuts (leave the raisins) to a grinder and grind them into the fine powder. Set aside.
- Add ghee to the same pan; as it melts, add mawa/khoya and roast it for about 2-3 minutes. Once done, take it off the flame and set it aside to cool.
- Now, add coconut, powdered sugar, ground nuts, cardamom powder, and raisins to the mawa.
- Mix until all the ingredients are fully incorporated. The mixture will be fine textured and should feel soft when rubbed in between fingers. Cover and set it aside to cool.
SHAPING GUJIYA
- Divide the gujiya dough into equal-sized balls. Cover the rest of the dough balls with a kitchen cloth and set them aside.
- Take one ball and roll it into a 5-inch disc. Place a tablespoon full of mawa filling in the center of the rolled-out dough. Leave the space around the edges.
- Moisten the edge of the dough with water.
- Lift the dough’s topside and fold it all the way over the rest of the dough to cover the mawa filling, press, and seal the edges well.
- Gujiya mold – This is the easier and fastest method. Place the folded gujiya in a gujiya mold. Press the mold until the edges are pinched together, and the gujiya is sealed. Remove the excess dough from the sides.
- Traditional pleats – It’s done by hand and requires a lot of patience and practice to get the perfect pleats. Take a folded gujiya and twist the sealed edges around the rim of the gujiya to make pleats. This is the most efficient method as the pleats prevent the filling from coming out during frying.
- Repeat the process with the rest of the dough until all the gujiyas are shaped.
- To prevent drying, keep the shaped gujiyas covered with a kitchen cloth at all times.
FRYING GUJIYA
- Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan. Once the ghee is moderately hot, gently slide in the gujiyas and deep-fry them until golden brown and crisp.
- Once cooked, remove from ghee and set them on a kitchen paper towel.
- Fry all the gujiyas in a similar manner. Mawa gujiyas are ready to be served.
- If you do not prefer to soak them in sugar syrup, then serve them as is garnished with edible dried rose petals and dry nuts.
SUGAR SYRUP
- Combine sugar, water, cardamom powder, and saffron in a pan. Bring it to a boil.
- Our main purpose is to melt the sugar; we are not looking for a sugar consistency here. Therefore, cook the syrup for about 5-6 minutes on a low flame. After the desired cooking time is over, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.
- Dip the fried gujiyas in the warm sugar syrup for a few seconds. Coat it well. Remove from sugar syrup and set aside.
- Coat the rest of the gujiyas in the sugar syrup.
- Sugar glazed Gujiyas are ready to be devoured! Jazz them up crushed pistachios, silver leaf, edible dried rose petals, and serve.
I m really impressed by both the recipe and the demo . cheers
Glad to hear that and thanks for stopping by Nidhi 🙂
Followed your step by step presentation and for the first time my gujiyas were purfect. Thanks a lot Ruchi.
You are welcome Hema!!
Heaven..one of my favorites..i can eat it anytime. Thanks you for posting. Will try it soon.
Thanks Madhavi.I am sure you are going to like it. If possible share your experience 🙂
Your recipes are wonderful Ruchi. My gujias were so tasty and perfect. Didn’t had the gujia mould so used the fork as you explained.
Thanks Ankita!! Glad you liked it 🙂
I love Gujia, it was always one of my favorite mitha as a child. Ruchi you are so awesome with a neat and clarified way of showing your recipes. Thanks so much for providing a very good website to teach young generations the art of Indian cooking! I made gujia today. It came out very well. Thanks a lot. Just a thought your website tagline should be Indian cooking made easy!!
That’s so sweet of you Mahi, loved your proposed tagline. Glad to be of help and thanks for stopping by, will see you around the blog 🙂
Very yummy !!! Your steps make it easy to cook and is very marvelous in taste.Your recipes comes out really tasty and as shown.Trying to learn more and more from you. Thanks Ruchi
You are welcome Vidhya and thanks for such a lovely comment 🙂
Hi,
Loved ur presentation..i just hv a query..whenever we made gujiya the mawa filling is reduced to half after frying…what may be the reason..coz of this the gujiya looks so empty as if i hv not put any filling (i always try to put the correct quantity) but still…wish if u could help 🙂
Thanks for your feedback Gauri. This is a very common problem with gujiyas. I would suggest to spread the mixture around like a paste and then sealing the gujias. This way you will taste the mixture in every bite. Hope that answers your query. Feel free to contact me if you have any other question.
the stepbystep demos give a clear idea of what to expect at every stage thanx pl add some more recipes.
Thanks for your feedback Veena. Working on that and you will see some more recipes pretty soon. 🙂
Love ur recipe , but one thing I wanted to clear that if I bake gujiya after that also can I put in sugar syrup , if how much time n how wl be the texture of gujiya.
Thanks Shweta, glad you liked. 🙂 Yes, you can dip baked gujiyas in sugar syrup. Dip each Gujiya in syrup for 2-3 minutes and set it on a clean plate. Sprinkle with nuts and enjoy!!
Hi Ruchi.. your recipe looks amazing. I m gonna try today. However before giving a shot i have a question: the Mava that u have used is that the SWEETENED MAWA or RICOTTA CHEESE MAWA? Also i m using US sugar which is less sweet as compared to one in india. So still should i use the same measurement?
And btw Happy Holi !! and thanks for sharing this amazing recipie.
Thanks for stopping by Taruna. I have used store bought mawa for this recipe. For this recipe Mawa #3 will work the best. http://www.ruchiskitchen.com/recipe/how-to-make-mawa-5-ways-of-making-mawa/
Keep the measurement same for sugar. Taste before you stuff, if need be add an extra teaspoon to your liking. Happy Holi to you and your family. 🙂
I know how to make the Gujias since my childhood and I love them and you have explained very nicely through the pictures as well. I hv couple of quereis though, when we buy gujias from the shop it has a liquid filling inside it, how can we do that?? AND could we make gujias with Milkmaid as well, and which is better MAWA or MILKMAID??
So sorry for the late reply Prashant, somehow your query ended up in my trash folder. To make gujiya mawa is the ideal one as it is more grainer. To make mawa at home you can follow this link – http://www.ruchiskitchen.com/recipe/how-to-make-mawa-5-ways-of-making-mawa/
Regarding the sweet liquid filling inside the gujiya – its the sugar syrup which seeps in while soaking.