Gujhiya

I am not a cook but I love to entertain and experiment with new recipes and at the same time I cook all the traditional fare for the festivals that we celebrate. It is a little tougher here away from Traditional Indian markets because you don't get many of the prepped ingredients like you might find in India and neither do you have an experienced maid at your disposal that you can delegate things too but these limitations just add to the adventure of starting from the scratch.
Well not quite so cause I didn't grow/grind the wheat and neither did I adopt a cow for a pet... He..he...he...

Since I got so many hits on the Roti photo post, I decided to do a similar photo version of the process of making 'Gujhiyas'. Gujhiyas are a traditional holi festival dish and are made with a shell of wheat flour dough which is filled with various soft fillings, like jaggery and dried ginger, coconut, sweet semolina, milk solids. The milk solid (Khoya or Mava) filling is the most common gujhiya in North India and can be found in sweet shops there around the spring time. I think its closest food cousin on this side of the world would be the South American sweet 'Empanadas'.
Again since I am not a cook, there are no recipes from me but I'm sure there must be plenty available on the web if you have the urge to make some yourself.

First off, you start with Khoya for the filling and its a long and slow process that requires continuous attention of boiling milk slowly till it turns solid. I have had many friends ask me if there's a trick and how is that even possible but trust me it does eventually turns into a paste and then a drier paste too. I start this process a few days in advance and keep the khoya ready in the fridge for whenever I am ready to make Gujhiyas. And this is one step that I sometimes wish I could delegate to a 'help' or buy fresh from the market, but given the circumstances, DH is my biggest help and he usually does a better job of making khoya than me :-)



Thickening Milk




A few specks in the milk from when
I wasn't paying attention and milk stuck to the
bottom of the pan.



Turning into a loose paste



Almost there...





Filling is ready- mixed with sugar, a little coconut and raisins

Caution: Don't add nuts that can damage the shell cause if the gujhiya breaks while frying it spoils the oil in the pan and its tough to salvage that.

Roll the dough



Add the filling




Fold into a semicircle and seal edges



make a few at a time and store in a cheese cloth
to prevent from drying out



Fry it on high heat, till medium brown



And its ready to be devoured