Traditionally, these crunchy and decadent pastry parcels are made on “Holi”, the spring festival of colour, but I LOVE these and have re-discovered these after my recent trips to India, and remembering my love of Indian desserts & sweets.
Don’t be intimidated by glancing across this recipe; it’s actually very simple! (And delicious!)
Gujiya
(A sweet, festive, Indian “empanada”)
Flaky Pastry Sheets 4
Ghee (clarified butter) 2 + 2 tbsp
Mixed Nuts & Raisins (chopped up) 1/2 cup
(I like a mix of cashews, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts & cranberries, rather than the traditional raisins)
Desiccated Coconut 1/3 cup
Milk Powder 1/2 cup
Masala Chai Honey 2-3 tbsps
Sugar Syrup
Water 1/3 cup
White Sugar 1/2
Rose Water 1 tsp (optional)
Or rose petals (optional)
– Thaw out the flaky pastry sheets as per instructions.
– Cut into quarters and if you wanted a more “traditional” approach, use a large cookie cutter or tumbler to cut into large disks.
You will get 16 nice sized “Gujiyas”.
– In a heavy bottomed pan, warm the 2 tbsps of the Ghee. When melted, add the milk powder.
– Cook on a medium heat till well incorporated and this is a nice, caramelised but crumbly texture.
– Remove and set aside.
– Use the same pan for the nuts & coconut.
– Blitz the nuts & raisins (or cranberries) till coarse. Or pound in a mortar & pestle.
– Mix with the desiccated coconut.
– Melt the remaining 2 tbsps of ghee along with the Masala Chai honey and toast the nuts & raisins & coconut mix.
– Add the crumbly milk powder mix.
– Mix well. You should have a sticky mixture.
– Spoon this into the pastry disks, taking care not to put too much.
– Fold the pastry in half and seal the edges using a fork.
– If you’re feeling adventurous twirl the edges to give a rounded feel.
– On the other hand, if you don’t want to be bothered with cutting into disks, you could always just use the squares and fold into triangles.
– Bake in an oven pre-heated to 180 degrees for about 20 minutes, or till golden brown.
– You could glaze the pastries with an egg or milk wash for a sheen.
While these are cooking, make the sugar syrup.
– Mix the water & sugar in a pan. (if you’re using rose petals, add them now).
– Bring to rolling boil and simmer on a low heat for about 3-5 minutes.
– If you’re using rose water, add it towards the end.
When the Gujiyas are baked and still very hot, dunk into the sugar syrup using tongs and let them sit on a cookie cooling sheet to drain off any excess syrup.
When cooled, garnish with slivered almonds & pistachios and rose petals (or even edible silver foil, if you’re feeling grand!).
These will last for a week or so in the fridge (but lose their crispyness).
You could just fill and freeze the Gujiyas to cook at a later date.
I have substituted milk powder for “Mawa” – milk solids. The Masala Chai Honey is a nice spicy touch. You could use plain honey or even soft brown sugar, instead. If you love cranberries as much as I do, why not go all out and use our Yuletide Spiced Honey, instead!? 😉
You can use unsalted butter instead of ghee.
The cranberries bring a lovely tartness to another wise sweet & heavy dessert. Also, I can’t stand the taste of cooked raisins! Hah!
… Image Unsplash