Khoya Gujiya recipe is an Indian sweet synonymous with Holi and Diwali. It is also called as khavyachi karanji in Maharashtra and Kajjakayalu or karjikai recipe down south. You can call it the desi croissant or empanada. It is a semi circular fried pastry stuffed with nuts, coconut and khoya. Jaggery or sugar gives it sweetness. Usually, people use a gujiya maker to get a perfect shape. However, this recipe is for making a whole wheat mawa gujiya without mold just like in the olden days. This is also called as mawa ghughra in Gujarat and is prepared during Diwali.
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Equipment
- kadai/frying pan
- or air fryer for baked gujiya recipe
Ingredients
For Stuffing
- Mawa/khoya
- Ghee
- Khuskhus or poppy seeds
- Sooji or semolina
- Desiccated coconut /coconut flour
- Chopped nuts ( almond, walnuts and raisins)
- Powdered sugar
Ghee/Oil for frying
For Pastry
- Atta or whole meal four
- Sooji or semolina
- Salt
- Ghee/oil
- Water for kneading
How to make mawa gujiya?
Traditionally, it is a plain flour pastry with a filling of nuts and mawa. Most people buy khoya from sweet shops. However, nowadays we never know about the purity. Hence, I love to make mawa at home. Traditional method is a bit tedious as you tend to boil full cream milk for hours on a low flame stirring in between. There is an alternative method you can use to make make instant khoya.It is ready in few minutes by using milk powder and cream. Easy and non contaminated. Just takes 5 mins. Make it and store in advance. Making any sweet then becomes easy when it is already in your refrigerator. Whether you like mawa gulab jamun ,kachori, ghevar or mawa modak recipe.
Some people also add karanji to sugar syrup after frying. This way you can reuse the left-over syrup of gulab jamun. We have also made the vegan version in the past. However, that recipe still has some maida or all purpose flour in it.
Below is a recipe which is made of pure whole wheat flour/atta. Yes, it still as yummy and crunchy.
recipe step by step with pictures
- Heat ghee in a pan and add mawa to it. Cook until it is soft.
2. Once it is soft, add semolina(sooji) and poppy seeds(khuskhus). 
3. Add coconut powder/flour and mix well. Turn off the heat.
4. In a bowl, add powdered sugar, dry fruits and mix it with mawa. Keep this aside. 
5. Mix flour, ghee, semolina and salt in another bowl and knead it into a semi soft dough. Roll into round shape like a roti flatbread. Add the stuffing in one half of the roti. Repeat this for all the flatbreads. 
6. Now, join both halves of the flatbread to make a semi-circle. 
7. Press from all sides. Do not leave any open gaps else mixture will come out while frying. Start binding the edges using finger tips. Place the index finger of right hand. Now, roll the immediate part of covering to bind it. Alternatively, you can use gujiya mould to make the perfect shape. 
9. Start deep frying wholewheat mawa gujiyas in oil or ghee on low heat, 2-3 at a time. 
10. Keep them on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Store them in an air-tight container.
How to Air fry Gujiya?
You can also air fry them to avoid any excess oil. For this, prepare the ghughra as per the above steps. To get more crispy gujiya if you are using an air fryer, you can opt to use the plain flour (maida) instead of wholemeal flour. Refer to the recipe here for Baked namak para.Use the dough as used in this recipe.
In a preheated air fryer (5 minutes) at 170C, cook the gughra for 14-15 minutes. Spray oil twice in between. If using whole wheat flour, cook for 16-17 minutes or until they sound hollow. Turn over the gujiya once in between.
Store these in an air tight container.
Wholewheat Mawa gujiya recipe
Equipment
- kadai/frying pan
- or air fryer for low oil version
Ingredients
Stuffing
- ½ cup mawa you may use homemade mawa
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- ½ tablespoon khuskhus or poppy seeds
- ½ tablespoon sooji or semolina
- ½ tbsp. desiccated coconut/coconut flour
- 3 tbsp. Chopped nuts almond,walnuts and raisins 1 tbsp.each
- 3 tbsp. sugar powdered
Pastry
- 1 cup atta or whole meal four
- 1 tbsp. sooji or semolina
- Pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon ghee/oil add 1 tablespoon more if using air fryer
- ½ cup water for kneading
- Oil for frying
Instructions
Stuffing
- Heat ghee in a pan, add mawa to it.
- Once it is soft,add sooji(semolina) and khuskhus(poppy seeds)
- Add coconut powder/flour ,turn off the heat
- Add powdered sugar,nuts and mix,keep this aside
Gujiya
- Mix flour,ghee,sooji and salt, knead into a semi soft dough,roll a piece of dough into round shape
- Add the stuffing in half of the rolled dough,close in semicircle
- Press from all sides,do not leave any open gaps
- Start binding the edges
For deep fried Gujiya
- Fry in oil on low heat, 2-3 at a time until golden brown
- Keep them on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil
For air fried Gujiya
- In a preheated air fryer (5 minutes) at 170C, cook the gujiya for 14-15 minutes. Spray oil twice in between.If using whole wheat flour, cook for 16-17 minutes or until they sound hollow.
- Store these in an air tight container.
Notes
Variations
You can also add a teaspoon fennel powder or cardamom powder to the filling. There are different types of gujiya recipes. Chasni wali gujiya or chandrakala gujiya when the above version of khoye ki gujiya, is dunked in sugar syrup. I am drooling as I write about it. Apart from these people also make kaju gujiya,dahi gujiya, nariyal gujiya or coconut gujiya recipe. There are even fusion ones available nowadays like chocolate gujiya,kaju caramel gujiya.
Storage
You can store them up to a week in an air tight container.
Why I love this recipe ?
I love this recipe so much because it takes me back to my childhood. We didn't eat fast food back then. Firstly, mum believed homemade is best. Secondly, it was not so easily available. My mum made a lot of snacks and sweets at home in spite of being a working mum. Thus, on festivals sis and I were both helping and learning side by side. Little did we know, how beneficial that would be? Now, as a mum, that experience comes handy. However, it is an easy recipe even if you didn't cook anything earlier.
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