Gujia: Pastry filled with Coconut, Dry Fruits & Nuts
Gujias are fried pastries filled with coconut or khoya (thickened solidified milk) and dry fruits.
It is a festival sweet and mostly prepared during Holi, but what the heck?! Why not during Diwali or any other festival too? During these days of Durga Puja, and all the upcoming festivals I was actually craving for Gujias which I had years ago when we visited India during Holi. My hubby’s Aunt had prepared these delicious Gujias, & till date I have not forgotten them. Unfortunately, I did not get an opportunity to ask her the recipe. This is what I came up with and it might not taste like the unforgettable ones back in India, but these did taste delicious too.
Gujias slightly vary from region to region. In the Northern parts of India, the filling is made with sweetened khoya and dry fruits & nuts while in South Western States, it consists of shredded coconut, nuts and jaggery/unrefined cane sugar or sugar. We are not very fond of Khoya, so I made these with coconut. A lot of times Gujias are further coated in sugar syrup to form a glazed coating and add to the sweetness. I have not done the glazing… See the “Notes” to how it can be done.
Gujia: Pastry filled with Coconut, Dry Fruits & Nuts
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 8 tablespoons of Ghee
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1-2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar
- Water
For the Filling:
- 1.5 cup fresh grated coconut
- 3 tablespoons cashew nuts, chopped fine
- 3 tablespoons raisins, chopped fine
- 3 tablespoons dates, chopped fine
- 1/4 cup almonds, cut into very thin slivers
- 3/4 cup sugar (Use more or less according to your your taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
- A Pinch of ginger powder
- A pinch of saffron, crushed
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
Optional: (You may use half the amount of khoya and half the amount of coconut for the filling)
For deep Frying:
- Ghee
Preparation:Mix the flour, Sugar, baking soda and ghee to form a texture and consistency of bread crumbs that just about holds together. Add water a little at a time and knead to form a stiff dough. Cover the dough with a damp towel. Keep aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan. Add the cashews & the almonds and fry them for a few seconds. They should not turn brown. Add coconut, sugar, cardamom powder, dates, raisins, saffron and ginger powder. Stir fry the coconut on a very low flame till it is a pale brownish color & dry and flaky. Keep aside. This is how it should look like.
Divide the dough into equal sized-portions and make them into balls. Roll these balls out into circles about 5″ diameter. (Tip:You can use a glass or bowl to cut out the circles)
Put a tablespoon of filling in the center of each circle and fold over into a half moon. Dip your fingertips in water & press the edges tight & pleat the edges (like a Dumpling ) to seal. (If it takes too long to pleat, just press and cut little lines with knife tip as I have done). Repeat the filling process for all the circles. Keep these aside.
Heat Ghee in a pan and deep fry the gujias while occasionally turning them, till they light brown in color. Drain on Paper Towels.
Note: To add extra sweetness to the Gujia, they are coated in sugar syrup.
This is how:You will need about 1/2 cup sugar, a pinch of saffron and 1/4 cup water.
Boil sugar, saffron & water together on medium heat until syrup can be stretched to about one thread.
Gently dip the gujias into the sugar syrup making sure they are coated with syrup all around. Place the gujias on a wire rack to drain & cool.
Store the Gujias in airtight containers after they are cooled.
The Gujias look lovely !! This is my all time favorite !! Thanks for sharing this…will soon ty this out !
Happy Diwali to you and yours as well, Soma. The Gujias look superb and delicious.
Perfect festive treat!
Wonderful Gujias with perfect look. First time here and had a nice time with all yr recepies. good work.
Happy Diwali to u.
Thanks for the bright light you brought to our Blog. Wish you more blogging spirit.
Your blogs are gr8 help to educate and bring awareness.
Keep up.
Hi,
Soma
So nice to see your lovely blog, Gujia looks yumm.Lot of work but it just tastes great ,and you seem to me a great cook also.Keep going.
enjoy the festival
happy Diwali
Hugs and smiles
Happy Diwali to Soma, her family and all the readers of this blog.
I am a regular ( almost addicted visitor here ) and I hope the rest enjoys their journey in recipeforlove too.
Wish you a very happy Deepavali Soma… those pics are amazing!
Soma thanks for dropping by…
u have a yummy blog too….and what a coincidence we both posted Gujjia for Diwali..:)
ur gujjia looks perfect too…
Wishing u and ur family Happy Diwali…
Happy Diwali to you and yours, Soma. The Gujias looks so delicious
happy diwali to you and your family, the gujia looks fabulous!
Wow looks gr8.
Mom, Supriya, Divya, Anu, Shrivalli, Lubna: Thank you so much
Hemamalini, Purva, Jaya, Mandira, : Thanks for stopping by too.
Hope all of u have a great year ahead.
I love gujiyas. I can eat the stuffing just like that.:D
It’s been so long since I had one of these. Will have to make do with this visual treat for now!
Loved your blog.
Happy Diwali.
wow – i love the sound of these! i must have missed this post earlier, as I see it only now.
Soma, am going to make your recipe soon. Can you tell me if you used the khoya in the filling too? With the grated coconut, etc.? If this is successful, I will make them for Diwali too.
No no khoya at all. This was light (except for the deep fried part) unlike the ones with khoya and mawa. Neither does the get filling get sticky like the ones with khoya. try it.. see if you like it. It is kind of an non traditional taste and flavor (check the ginger powder 🙂 ).
Soma, thanks for the wonderful treat. Just posted my creation of your recipe.
Wishing you a very very Happy Diwali and yup we are celebrating it by munching on your Gujias 😛 I had to add Khoya as the husband couldn’t bear the thought of eating a gujia without so much fat stuffed into its belly 😡 It has come out delicious as I followed all your steps very carefully 🙂 The only thing I didn’t add was ginger powder as I didn’t have any 🙁
Happy Diwali to you Sakshi! I am kind of relieved you did not add the ginger as I would not know the outcome with ginger and khoya 😀 LOL
The recipe was entirely made up by me (hence the weirdness of adding sugar to the dough.. did u do that too?!), as I had no clue how these were actually done and I had no one to ask when my craving came. I am happy that you haven’t complained.
I always trust your blog when I need to make something which I never ever had the guts to try before.
tks so much for this receipe…last time i tried with khoya…it turned out ok…..but didn’t like much….i wanted to do without khoya…u have done it…since holi is aproaching….i will try this…n tell u …how it came out….its really good…wish me luck
Good luck Ananya! Hope you like it!
hi again
gujias were fantastic…..it really turned out very tasty…..tks u explained it so well…keep giving gud receips to my mail…i will try n tell u…bye…
I love these.
I’m beginning to think Gujia & Baklava have quite a common filling (except the ginger :D), different pastry style. Isn’t it amazing how there are so many different countries, so many different cultures, so many different languages, yet we find so many similarities in their different cuisines 🙂
Very nice Gujias. This recipe is easy to follow. I had tried making gujias with gujia moulds earlier but they were not so perfect. I think ur way of using glass to cut the maida is much better option to do
Dear,
I would like to know how much intregients required for 150pieces of gujia?
I found ur receipe interesting.Kindly guide.
with regards,
kavita
I found the recipe on the newsfeed page and since I like dried fruit very much and was interested in Gujias which I have not had in my life because i am not from India. I am going to make them myself and am familliar with cake and pastry making etc And look up your website for further sweet recipes….thank you very much
Wow what a lovely recippe.will definitely try them out.thanks so much.