Gujiyas are a popular sweet treat to eat during the Holi festival. Many households, including my own, will make them together as a family. Some people make the milk cake filling from scratch out of sweetened milk solids and nuts, but it is much easier to buy it from a store. If you don’t live near an Indian grocery store, you can use chocolate instead of milk cake for the filling.
For the dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp melted ghee (clarified butter)
- ⅓ to ½ cup cold milk
For the filling:
- Store-bought milk cake (you can find it at most Indian grocery stores) or chocolate
(milk cake is more traditional, but it tastes good with chocolate too)
- Vegetable oil for frying
Steps
Making the dough
- Put the flour into a bowl and pour the melted ghee onto the flour.
- Mix the ghee into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add 4 tablespoons of the milk and knead.
- Add more milk as needed. The dough should be firm and tight. You might not need to add all of the milk indicated.
- Roll the dough into small circles about 3-4 inches in diameter. Make sure to roll it really thin—the dough should be slightly translucent.
Folding the gujiyas
- Dip your finger in water and go around the circumference of the rolled dough.
- Put a teaspoon of milk cake in the middle and fold the dough circle in half.
- Seal the circle shut by pressing the edges
- Cut them with a serrated roller or a pizza cutter. Make sure there are no holes so the milk cake doesn’t get in the oil.
- Put the gujiya on a plate and cover with a moist paper towel. I would recommend making all of the gujiyas first and then frying them.
- Fry in oil on low heat until both are slightly golden brown.