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Gujia

Gujia

Gujia, Ghugra, Karangi

Gujia is a fried pastry filled with an aromatic nuts mixture. In India, Gujia is traditionally made for the holidays like Diwali and Holi and is a must have treat.
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Indian
Servings 12 people

Ingredients
  

Crust:

  • 1 cup all purpose flour plain flour or maida
  • 1 tbsp sooji semolina flour
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1/3 cup lukewarm water use as needed

Filling:

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream or whipping cream
  • 1 cup milk powder
  • 1/4 cup coconut powder
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp melon seeds (optional)

Garnish:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tbsp sliced almonds and pistachios

To Make Paste

  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp water

Instructions
 

Crust:

  • Mix flour, sooji, and oil in a bowl, make a soft dough adding water slowley as needed. Knead the dough until the dough becomes soft and pliable.
  • Set the dough aside and cover it with a damp cloth. Let the dough sit for at least ten minutes.

Filling:

  • Mix the cream and milk powder in a frying pan. Cook on medium heat until mixture starts leaving the sides of the frying pan and becomes soft runny dough. Stir continuously so the mixture does not burn on the bottom of the pan.
  • Turn off the heat and add coconut, almonds, melon seeds, sugar, and cardamom powder. Mix together well. After cooling, the mixture will be lightly moist. Keep aside.

Making the Gujias:

  • Mix 2 tablespoons of water with 1 tablespoon of flour to make a paste. Set aside.
  • Knead the dough again for a minute. Divide the dough into about 20 equal parts and roll into balls with the palms of your hands.
  • Roll each ball into about 4-inch diameter (like a roti or chappati).
  • Dip your finger in the flour paste and spread it around the rim of the rolled dough, but just on the half the circle.
  • Take the rolled dough in your palm and put about 1-1/2 tablespoons of the filling mixture in the center and fold it into a semi-circle. Now press the edges together with your fingers. Make sure the edges are completely sealed otherwise they will open while frying and oil will get in and filling will come out. Continue filling the rest of the gujia in the same manner.
  • Heat about 1 inches of oil in a frying pan on medium heat. To test if the oil is hot enough, drop a small piece of dough into the oil. It should sizzle right away but come to the surface slowly.
  • Place the gujia in the frying pan few at a time.
  • After gujhias are floating on top of the oil, turn them slowly. Fry the gujias until they turn light golden-brown color on all sides. Don't fry on high heat; the gujia crust will be too soft and not crispy.
  • When they are done cooking, lift them out of the oil with a slotted spoon.

Garnishing:

  • Boil the sugar and water on medium heat until syrup is about one thread or 230 degrees (Fahrenheit) on a candy thermometer.
  • Dip the gujias into the syrup making sure they are coated with syrup all around. Place the gujias on a wire rack to allow the extra syrup drain.
  • Garnish the gujias with sliced almonds and pistachios while the gujhias are still moist with syrup.
  • Gujias will be dry in an hour.

Notes

Gujia can be stored in airtight container up to a month.
Gujia makes great gift idea for Holidays you may also like Besan Ladoo, Spicy Cashew, Baklava, Besan Mathri 
Keyword Ghugra, Holiday Dessert, Holiday Gift, Karangi, Special Occasion
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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86 thoughts on “Gujia

  1. Hi Manjula,

    Do you think I can bake these instead of frying? If so, at what temperature and for how long? Also, I do not want to use the sugar glaze, how much more sugar I need to add?

    Thank you
    Marie

  2. Enormously enjoyed this article :), keep up the great
    writing and I’ll keep coming back for more. Will be sharing this
    with my twitter followers and I’msure they’ll enjoy it as well!

  3. Hello Manjulaji, i made khoya but its bit sticky then i added sugar .But its still sticky can u tell me now what should i do with that khoya??Please reply soon..

    Thanks
    Muskaan

  4. Hi,
    I was wondering what do you do after making so many delicious things. Do you invite friends over or just you and your family eat them?
    I have some more questions-
    Who does the videography?
    Who does the cleaning up after you cook?
    What made you start this site?

    I hope you don’t mind my inquisitiveness!

  5. i made this gujiya today… came out good …just one drawback tat they were little hard… please tell me what went wrong so tat i would make it better next time

  6. hello aunty! wanted to know how much time it takes the filling to cool off to such a dry level as u have in your video… mine stays in a running dough form …

  7. Hi Aunty, from Malaysia. Thank you so very much for this recipe. It was a hit at our Kartik festival here. I did not have dessicated coconut, instead used fresh grated coconut, lightly toasted. Was a little apprehensive about the milk powder, because most brands available here are mixed with palm oil and soya lecithin and “stabilizers”, but it worked out well. For the pastry, instead of oil, I substituted ghee, quantity slightly less (because the ghee was not melted), and then fried the gujiya in ghee. Added half a teaspoon of almond flavor to the syrup. Other than that, kept to your basic recipe and technique – and the video most helpful – besides it puts your very personal stamp on it! Made me smile and think of you when I was making the gujiya. Hare Krishna!

  8. Hi Aunty,

    I have made these gujias a few times and they have always turned out great! Everyone is always asking me where I learnt to make these.
    They are absolutely delicious!! Thanks for the recipe!

  9. Hello Auntie
    Its always been a pleasure being on your website and seeing you cook.. The dishes that u provide are lovely.. and more beautiful than that is the love and affection u put in them.. i love to watch your hands while u cook..!! u r so precise and yet so gentle with your dishes!! -anu

  10. Namaste Aunty..
    I made gujias on this diwali..but it doesn’t come out well…become soft..i fried it on low flame..but used normal water and i think oil was also less for the dough…is these can be reason for soft gujias…plz suggest me…Thanks

  11. Happy Diwali. Auntyji thank you for your website. I had invited friends for Diwali but got stuck thinking what to cook. And while I was googling found your site and you saved my day. I tried your besan ladoo and gujia and came out very good. Once again thank you.

  12. Dear Ms. Jain,

    Thanks so much for providing a very good website to teach younger Indians the art of Indian cooking!
    I love Gujia, it was always one of my favorite desserts as a child. I have to practice your recipe a bit more, but the first time it came out pretty good, and I substituted the maida flour, with healthier white whole wheat flour. It works, but it takes a little getting used to. Just thought I could try to make the recipe with a healthier grain, as so much of our traditional food is fried.
    Thanks again!

  13. Hello Aunty,

    Thanks for the recipe. I had a question, if I do not want to do the garnish with sugar syrup, will I have to adjust the sweetness in the filling?
    Thanks,

  14. Pingback: Getting Ready For the Wedding | Manjula's Kitchen | Indian Vegetarian Recipes
  15. Hi Ms Manjula,

    I have made your peda recipe using khoya method you showed in that video. It turned out great. However this recipe my “khoya”: milk-powder and heavy whipping cream never reached the “runny” consistency. I am so bummed. I kep cooking the mix thinking it will eventually reach that consistency, now after 12 minutes it just getting dryer by the second and also does not look pale yellow any more. What could be wrong? The consistency you showed is so obvious that there is no way I missed it in my pan. What do I do now? Please help!!!!

    1. Baby formula will taste very different AND don’t forget that baby formula (powder or liquid) is nutritionally formulated for infants and toddlers, not adults. It is not a cooking substitute.

  16. Milk powder is a big mystery to me… I made gulab jamun the way you showed, it turned out to be a disaster. I soeaciially bought the milk poweder and all.. frist time I tried , it melted in the oil.
    I tried again with less butter and they turned out to be hard rock balls…

    Any ideas what are we doing wrong.. Hope you are showng all the steps and listing all the tips to make them. Thanks

  17. Hi Madam,

    I try to make gujias, for the filing i tried as per your instruction only but you shown in your video when you stirring cream with milk powder it starts leaving the sides of the frying pan. But when i tried to do it, its not coming like that. after few minutes it made solid.

    Plz tell me clearly how to make.

    Gs

  18. hello di,
    thanx for posting such gr8 recepies…it always works out good….u used milk while making filling but in the ingredients it is written as creame….plzzzz let me knw wat to use…..di plz tell me the substitute of khoya….plzzzzzzzz

  19. Hi Aunty

    after seeing ur vedio . i had also tried to make khoya with cream n milk powder. but it was not in good shape

    pls let me know which brand of milk powder n cream u r useing n where i can find that. i live in chicago

  20. Hello Aunty…
    I love your website… i learnt soo many things ……….. Aunty , ystrday i tried ur Bengali Rasgulla recipe….. i did the excatly the same way… aftr taking out the cooker …i kept them in refrigerator to cool .. and aftr 30 mins when they came out they were hard……….can u help me aunty……. i am reallly confused here……

    Thanks..

        1. Knead it for several minutes pressing down with the heel of your hand and smearing the paneer onto the (clean) countertop. Scoop it back together, and repeat until all of the graininess is gone from the paneer and it feels almost silky. At first it’s hard to do because the paneer is crumbly, but you have to keep doing it until it’s not crumbly and starts holding togethter pretty well. If the paneer seems too dry, add back a tsp of water to moisten it.

          Hope this helps. Jaya.

          1. hey Jaya,
            do u have a food processor or chopper..after making paneer try to remove as much water as u can ..then run the paneer in FP or chopper..within few minutes..it will form a dough ball..perfect for u.but remember remove as much water as u can..because if there is water in paneer..it will be messed up.

            Shilpa

  21. Hi Manjula Aunty,

    Your recepies are really great and i have tried a lot of recepies from your cooking shows online. Keep posting us lots of recepies!

    -Lekha

  22. Manjula Aunty,

    I wanna try and make this gujiya today. If I use fresh khoya instead of cream and milk powder, how much should i use for 20-24 gujjiyas? Pls advise. Thankyou. You are doing an awesome job. A blessing for experimenting people like me who has gotten bored of cooking same old roti-sabzi-dal for so long:-) I have tried 5-6 recipes from you site already. needless to say, all came excellent. Thanks to your simple nd easy to follow recipes and great videos. My 6 year old son loves watching your videos! he wants to be a chef he says!!!

  23. Amazing recipe. Im from South India. The inner contents tasted like the peda.
    I couldnt get the shape right. But the contents manages to stay inside without breaking the crust.
    Truly amazing.
    Thanks Manjula.

  24. Hello Manjulaji,

    I experimented a little and added roasted poppy seeds and roasted fresh coconut to the filling mixture. Gujia’s taste absolutely wonderful.
    -Sudha

  25. hello Majulaji,

    I tried this recipe and it came out just perfect…very tasty ! Made them for my sisters family and they absolutely loved it..all credit goes to you..thank you !

    -Sudha

  26. hello aunty..
    i have tried Gujia according to your method it turned out really nice.i tried your kachori dough also but i dont know why shell became soft after sometime.
    thanks for giving such nice recipes.
    pragati

  27. hi manjulaji,
    Your all recipes are very good.I tried many of them and all were so delicious.I made rasgulla’s, nan-khatai, Besan-ladoo etc etc.This diwali i am thinking of making gujia’s.Can you please tell me from which store i can get heavy whipping cream?

  28. Manjula,

    Thank you for your wonderful recipes. I have tried a few of them with delicious results. I was wondering why semolina flour is added to the dough. Looking forward to trying this one!

    XOXO
    Glen

  29. Hi Archana,
    The filling will come out if you don’t pinch the whole length of the edges together. You can’t leave any of it opened. Another cause could be if you overfilled the gujia.

    Did the filling spill out where you joined the edges or did it burst the the middle of the dough?

    Jaya

  30. hi Manjula g

    This recipe is awesome. i did try 2day, makes gud gujia, but problem is
    my filling was coming out . Don’t know, how did do? Can u give me any suggetion pls?
    thx

    C

  31. The milk powder for this recipe should taste good. The problem with Gits is they have other ingredients that affect the taste (not in a good way in my opinion). Don’t compare this recipe with Gits. This is much better.

  32. Hi Manjula Aunty,

    This recipe seems to be really simple for those who are living in abroad and cant find Khoya 🙂 but I am just wondering whether the milk powder used here will give the same taste coz it has its own tase which u can find in Gitz guulab jamun as well

  33. hi manjula,
    just love ur cooking easy to make sweet great taste .hey diwali is around the corner so can u give us balushashi recipe plz and many many thanks for this gujjia recipe so sweet.

  34. Dear Manjula,

    I love this website of yours and love you and love your recipes. I really appreciate the traditional methods that you use and the authentic recipes posted here.
    Can’t wait for your next recipe!

    Love,

    Sally

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