Khawa/khoya/mawa Karanji (also know as gujiya, garijalu, kajjikayalu) is sweet fried dumpling made with wheat flour, semolina and stuffed with mawa/khawa, dry fruits, sugar, and cardamom.
The crust can be made either simple or colorful by adding food colors to dough. I am sharing pictures and steps for marble crust too.
Ingredients:
Stuffing:
- Milk khawa/khoya/khoa/mawa (dairy food made with milk thickened by heating)
- Cardamom powder
- Dry fruits
For the covering/crust:
- 2 cups wheat or multigrain flour
- ½ cup semolina (fine sooji)
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbs oil
Method:
- Khawa can be store bought or home-made. I made khawa from sweetened condensed milk (click here for recipe: Khawa)
- Dry roast cashews and almonds and grind to coarse powder
- As I made khawa from sweetened condensed milk, I add little sugar to adjust the taste
- Mix all the ingredients of stuffing together and keep aside
- Take what flour and semolina, add salt
- Heat 2 tbsp oil and add it to the flour and mix well
- When you take the mixture in your fist and press it, it should be able to hold together (see the pic)
- Start adding water and knead into a smooth dough
- Coat it with little oil
- Cover it and let it stand for 15 minutes
After 15 minutes, knead the dough one more time and divide it into equal portions
- Grease the rolling pin with oil and roll the dough ball into a thin circle
- Approximately 3-inch circle
- Also make oval portions of the stuffing
- Place stuffing on the circle, apply some water at the ends of circle
- Then fold the circle into half by making sure stuffing is not coming out at the ends
- Start slowly pressing the ends of half circle to close it nicely
- Use the cutter and cut the Karanji into nice shape as shown in the video
- Make rest of the karanji in similar way
- Take a frying pan, add oil and heat it
Test by dropping a small dough ball into the oil. It should slowly sizzle back to the top and turn golden which means our oil is ready
- Add as many karanji as your pan can hold without overcrowding to the oil
- Keep stirring gently intermittently to help them fry evenly
- Once they turn golden remove and drain on absorbent paper
- Fry all the remaining karanji
- Cool them completely and store them in an airtight container
- Similarly, you can make marble crust by using food colors. Make three equal portions of dough. Add red/green/yellow food colors to dough, knead well
- Take one colored portion and roll it into a big circle
- Make similar colored circles
- Place all the circles on each other
- Roll all the circles together to make it a roll
- Cut the roll into small portions and roll circles out of them
- The proceed with the step of adding stuffing, folding it into half circle and cut to the shape and then deep fry in oil. They look amazing!
Back to Savi’s Kitchen!