Mawa filled Gujiya/Karanji ~ Diwali Sweet

Gujiya/Karanji is in my to-do list for a long time. So Diwali was the perfect time to give it a try.  Preparing the filling isn't any difficult. I wasn't sure if I the outer cover will come out well. It should neither turn soggy or very hard. I told my MIL, if it doesn't turn out well, I will convert this into Bolis. After frying the first batch and I switched off the stove and waited for it cool down. I asked my MIL to do the taste testing and she gave a thumbs up.

Since sugarless khova is easily available here unlike my hometown, I decided not to prepare the khova at home since its very time consuming and  I had other sweers and savories also to be made. I got khova from a near by dairy farm and it was very fresh.

You need

For the outer cover

• All purpose flour /Maida - 1 cup
• Ghee/Butter - 2 tblspn
• Powdered sugar - 2 tspn
• Warm water to prepare the dough
• Oil to deep fry

For Filling

• Mawa/Khova - 1 cup
• Dry Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
• Powdered sugar - 3/4 cup
• Cashews/raisins - 1/2 cup
• Cardamom - 1 tspn
• Semolina - 1 tblspn

 Method

Add ghee and sugar to maida. Mix in well so that the ghee/butter coats the flour well. Slowly add warm water to get a stiff dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave it for at least an hour.

Take mawa in a kadai. Roast it over low heat for a minute or two. I used store bought dry coconut. If you are using fresh grated coconut, roast it separately till it starts browning.  Add in grated coconut, sugar, cashew, raisins, semolina and cardamom. Mix well and continue cooking till it comes together. It might appear a bit sticky but on cooling it will be fine. While filling, if you find it too sticky, just add a teaspoon of maida and mix.

Take a marble size dough and roll into a thin poori. I rolled into a big chappathi and cut out using a lid of steel dabba. I did not  need any flour for dusting while rolling. Not using any flour also helps in the texture of the fried gujiya, to keep it soft.

Keep a spoon of the filling on one half and fold the other half on top of the filling.

Seal the edges well. Take care that it is sealed well so that it doesn't open up on frying.

To seal, you can use a paste of maida and water. I didn't require any.I pressed it well and I didn't have any problem of opening up. After shaping the gujiyas, if you are not immediately frying them, cover them with a damp cloth. Deep fry 3 or 4 at a time in a moderately hot oil. Drain them when it is golden in color.

The covering was very crisp and soft and indeed has layers too. I wanted to try applying rice flour and ghee paste on multiple pooris and then again roll it out to get layers. But in spite of not doing that, I got perfect Gujiyas. To make it more rich, you can just dip them in sugar syrup. I chose not to do that.

You can practically stuff this with any filling of your choice. I had made the dough using 1 1/2 cups of maida. The filling was not enough. So for the remaining dough I made a filling of chutney dal/pottukadalai powder , sugar, dry coconut and cashews. I just mixed everything and filled it. That also turned out very delicious.

Blueberry cheesecake

Ini pesenan dari temen yang cuma contact via YM aja,namanya Mario as tour guide.
Dia nanya " Ren, jualan kue ya? pesen dong buat cewe gue, Sherly. Mo kasi surprise, tp minta tolong anterin ke kantornya ya Ren..

Okelah kalo begitu..Enak punya customer kaya gini..harga ga nawar, design terserah, cuma minta ada tulisan "For my dear, Sherly"

Cheesecake nya lembuttt n ngeju bgt ( iyalah yaa,namanya aja cheesecake ya..^_^)
Dianter ke Wisma GKBI, perusahaan tour juga,,cm lupa apa namanya..hehehehe

Pas dianterin, Sherly nya surprise bgt.. Seneng deh liat orang bahagia gt..
Ga berapa lama Mario SMS " Ren,enakkkkk ga kalah deh ama yang di cheesecake shop."

Thanks Mario, Thank Jesus

Boondhi Ladoo ~ Diwali Sweet

Hope all of you had a safe and fun filled Diwali. While planning for Diwali Sweets, I try to include the ones which are in my to-do list. And most of the time, the ones which requires time and energy gets into the list, since its festival and I am all out to slog that extra hours in the kitchen. The first sweet to be ticked this time was Boondhi Ladoo and my MIL was game for it since she had made only once and that was with her mother taking the lead. And its first time for me, though I have enough experience in rolling the laddus. (My college mates will agree to this). I checked the measurements and thread consistency for the syrup, with my mom. My mom gave the measurements in kilograms and I scaled it down to cups which is easier for me, since I was making a small quantity.

 

Making ladoo is quite easy though it involves some work. There is nothing much to go wrong in this, if you follow the method properly.

 

 

 

You need

 

 

• Besan/Kadalamavu - 2 cups
• Yellow color - a pinch
• Sugar - 3 cups
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Milk - 1 tspn
• Cashews, raisins, sugar candy(kalkandu) - a handful
• Cardamom/Elaichi powder - 1 tspn
• Ghee - 1 tblspn
• Oil to deep fry

 

Cloves and edible camphor can also be added. I omitted them.

 

Method

Preparing the syrup

 

First prepare the sugar syrup to soak the boondhis.  Heat water and sugar in a deep bottom vessel. When the sugar is fully dissolved, add a teaspoon of milk and let the syrup boil. The impurities in the sugar will float on top. Remove the scum with a ladle. Boil the syrup to one thread consistency. You can check by dropping some syrup to a small bowl of water. If the syrup stays in water and it is rollable, then you can switch of the stove. Take care that you don't make a thick syrup, since rolling laddus will not be easy and it will not hold shape also.

 

Roast Cashews and raisins in ghee. Add it to the syrup. Stir in the cardamom powder also. Keep it aside.
Don't add the sugar candy at this stage.

 

Preparing Boondhis

 

Take the besan in a bowl. Mix in a pinch of yellow color. Add water and make a lump free batter. The batter should be similar to dosa batter. To make boondhi, a special ladle is available in the market. I don't have one. I used the normal slotted ladle which has big holes in it. It worked fine for me. To check the batter consistency, try droping the batter on the ladle over the batter mix. You can see how the batter falls down.  If it doesn't fall in drops, you can add some more besan to adjust the consistency.

 

 

 

 

 

Heat oil in a wide pan. Heat moderately. Hold the ladle above the oil. The height of the ladle determines the shape of the boondhi. So hold it high. While making the boondhi, we tend to lower it near the oil, and you will end up with tiny boondhis. The boondhis get fried very quickly. Drain them before they turn very crisp. Add the drained boondhis to the syrup. Continue making boondhis till you finish the batter. Gently mix the syrup after addition of each batch of boondhis. The hot boondhis will keep the syrup warm. Finally add the sugar candies. We are not adding it at the beginning since it might melt in the hot syrup.

 

 

 

 

 

The final assembly

Take a handful of the soaked boondhis and press it in your fist and roll into laddoos. You should press it well while shaping, so it holds shape and remains firm on cooling also.

 

 

 

I got around 32 ladoos with this measurement.