Karanji recipe, How to make sweet coconut Gujiya

Karanji is a sweet snack often made for festive occasions like Diwali and Ganesh Chaturthi. Diwali is one of India’s premier festivals and is a time for family and celebration.

Karanji and Gujiya are two Indian sweets which have a similar look and appearance. Basically both karanji and gujiya are fired pastries with a sweet stuffing. It can be called as “coconut stuffed crescents”.

Karanji as well as gujiya is made in different parts of India with different stuffings. Gujiya has a stuffing of mawa/khoya with dry fruits, while in karanji, the stuffing is usually made of desiccated coconut, poppy seeds, nuts and/or dry fruits.

This is a popular sweet traditionally made during the festival of lights or Diwali which falls during late October to mid-November, depending on the lunar cycle for the month of Kartik.

Traditionally 5-6 sweets and savories are prepared for this 15 days period which starts with Vasu dwadashi and ends with Tulsi Vivah in the lunar month of kartik.

Boxes full of home-made sweets and savories are exchanged. Family get togethers are also held during this period. Every year, during this festival, lots of snacks and sweets are made like shankarpali, karanji/gujiya, shakkarpare, chakali, chivda, burfi, papdi, nimki, besan ladoos and many more J.

Here I am sharing my mom’s recipe of making karanji/gujiya at home. A well-made karanji/gujiya has an outer crisp and flaky cover. It melts in your mouth with a sweet coconut based stuffing.

You can make karanji in bulk and store them in air tight container and have them for next few weeks. We usually have them as snack with the evening tea.

Step by step recipe of Karanji/coconut gujiya:

For outer dough cover-

Sieve together 2 cups all-purpose flour into a mixing bowl and a pinch of salt. Make a well in the center and add 2 tablespoon of melted ghee.

Mix it. Rub it in with your fingertips to make a crumbly texture of the flour. Add the water in parts and begin to knead the dough.

Continue to knead the dough until smooth. Cover the dough with a moist kitchen towel and kept aside for 20 minutes. Meanwhile make the stuffing.

Karanji stuffing-

Heat a pan. Add 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds and roast lightly for 1-2 minutes. Don’t brown it.

Remove it in a plate and keep aside.

In the same pan, add ¼ cup grated or crumbled khoya/mawa. Saute until aroma fills the air. Make sure it doesn't brown. Remove the khoya in a plate and keep aside.

Roughly chop 5-6 almonds and 10-12 cashew nuts. If you want you can roast the nuts first and then chop them. 

Add these chopped nuts along with 10 raisins to the poppy seeds and khoya mixture.

Add ½ cup desiccated coconut, 3 tbsp. powdered sugar, a pinch nutmeg powder and ¼ tsp cardamom powder. Mix everything. 

Lastly add 1 tbsp. milk and combine well. It will help to keep the stuffing moist. Keep the stuffing aside.

To assemble-

Re-knead the dough and Divide it into two parts. 

Roll each part into a long "log" Cut the it in equal slices. Take each slice and roll it between your palms. Make small sized balls

With a rolling pin on a dusted board, roll the dough round in 4-5 inches diameter circle.

Place a tbsp. of the stuffing in the center or on one side of the circle, keeping the egdes empty, Make sure you don’t over stuff it because it will become difficult to shape them. It might also break while frying.

Using your fingertip, apply water or milk all over the circumference edge.

Gently bring together both the edges and join. Gently press the edges.

Now use a karanji cutter and trim off the edges, giving shape of crescent.

Cover these crescents with a moist kitchen towel till all the crescents are ready; so the outer dough cover doesn’t dry.

Make all the karanji/gujiya this way and they are ready to be fried. 

Heat ghee or oil for deep frying in a pan or kadhai. Gently place the prepared karanji/gujiya in moderately hot oil for deep frying. Depending on the size of your pan/kadhai, add a few at a time. Make sure they don't crowd.

Keeping the flame steady at medium heat, deep fry each crescent till crisp. Do not let them turn brown. They should have pale golden color.

Drain and remove the karanjis/gujiyas. 

Karanji/Coconut Gujiya recipe below:

Karanji recipe Prep time Cook time Total  20 min  30 min 50 min Karanji – crispy flaky deep fried pastry stuffed with desiccated coconut and nuts. AUTHOR: Monali RECIPE TYPE: Sancks CUISINE: Maharashtrian, Indian SERVES: makes 20 karanji INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup=237 ml) For the dough- 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tbsp. Ghee A pinch of salt Water  to knead dough (as required) For stuffing- ½ cup desiccated coconut 1 tbsp. poppy seeds ¼ cup khoya/mawa 5-6 almonds 10-12 cashew nuts 10 raisins 4 green cardamom, powdered ( ¼ tsp cardamom powder) A pinch of nutmeg powder 3 tbsp. powdered sugar or white cane sugar (as required) 1 tbsp. milk DIRECTION For outer dough cover- Heat ghee lightly, until it is warm. Sieve together the pinch of salt and all-purpose flour into a mixing bowl. Add the hot melted ghee. Mix it. Rub it in with your fingertips to make a crumbly texture of the flour. Add the water little at a time and knead to stiff dough. Cover the dough with a moist kitchen towel and kept aside for 20 minutes. Karanji stuffing- Heat a pan. Add the poppy seeds and roast lightly for 1-2 minutes. Don’t brown it. Remove it in a plate and keep aside. In the same pan, add grated or crumbled khoya/mawa. Sauté stirring often till the aroma comes. Don’t brown it. Remove the khoya in a plate and keep aside. Roughly chop almonds and cashew nuts. If you want you can roast the nuts first and then chop. Add these chopped nuts along with raisins to the poppy seeds and khoya mixture. Add desiccated coconut, powdered sugar, nutmeg powder and cardamom powder. Mix everything. Lastly add milk and combine well. It will help to keep the stuffing moist. Keep the stuffing aside. To assemble- Re-knead the dough and Divide it into two parts. Roll each part into a log. Cut the log in equal slices. Take each slice and roll it between your palms. With a rolling pin on a dusted board, roll the dough round in 4-5 inches diameter circle. Place a tbsp. of the stuffing in the center or on one side of the circle, keeping the edges empty; Make sure you don’t over stuff as it becomes difficult to shape the karanjis. It might break while frying. Using your fingertip, apply water or milk all over the circumference edge. Gently bring together both the edges and join. Gently press the edges. Now use a karanji cutter and trim off the edges, giving shape of crescent. Cover these crescents with a moist kitchen towel till all the crescents are ready; so the outer dough cover doesn’t dry. Make all the karanjis this way and they are ready to be fried. Heat ghee or oil for deep frying in a pan or kadhai. Gently place the prepared karanji in hot oil. Just add a few karanji at a time. Don’t crowd them. Fry till crisp and golden. Do not let them turn brown; these should have pale golden color. Remove and drain the karanji on paper towels. Once cooled, store them in air-tight container. These last for 8 days on the shelf. NOTES If you want, you can grind the almonds, cashews and raisins to a semi fine powder in a dry grinder. I like the chunks of nuts in the karanji, so I prefer chopping them. SERVING SUGGESTION Serve karanji fresh and warm or at room temperature.