GHUGHRA

Scrumptious Ghughra !!

The biggest and most important festival of India - Diwali / Deepawali (meaning : row of lamps) will arrive in a couple of days and I am sure you all will be busy preparing for the big day ! "Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year !!!" to all my readers in advance. For all those who don't know about Diwali, here's some info. for them.  Diwali is also known as "festival of lights" and is a 5-day long festival celebrated by Hindus all over the world. Diwali involves lighting of small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. To celebrate Diwali, people clean their houses, make sweets and savory dishes, wear new clothes, burst firecrackers and share sweets, snacks and good wishes with family and friends.

On the occassion of Diwali, many different sweets are made. Today I am showing the process of making Ghughra so you can try them out this Diwali !  "Ghughra" is a traditional sweet recipe from the state of Gujarat - located in western part of India. It is a sweet dumpling shaped like an empanada made with flour and stuffed with a combination of ingredients like mava (khoya),  sooji , dried fruits and nuts. Mava / khoya is used as a base in many Indian sweets. It is made by heating whole milk in an iron pan till it turns solid. It is similar to ricotta cheese but with less moisture. It is available in the freezer section of any Indian grocery store.

Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside 

Now similar kind of sweets are made in different states of India. Say, "Karanji" is a similar kind of sweet from the state of Maharashtra - the difference is that it is stuffed with fresh coconut, dried fruits and rose petals. The North Indians make a similar sweet called "Gujia"  stuffed with fresh mava. This is one beautiful thing I adore about India - when you travel from one state to another, you will get to taste their traditional recipes, get to know their culture, even the language changes and still we all live together in harmony as ONE GREAT INDIA !!!

The following recipe makes around 18 ghughras.

Ingredients :-

For the cover :

1 cup all purpose flour / maida
1 tbsp rava/semolina
1 tbsp oil
salt, a pinch
water for kneading

For the filling :

3/4 cup grated mava/khoya
1/2 cup dried coconut powder
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom powder
1/4 cup raisins, broken cashew nuts
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Oil for frying
all-purpose flour for rolling
Water for sealing


Process :-

1.  For the outer cover, mix all the ingredients except water. Add water slowly and knead into a smooth pliable dough. Keep it covered and let it sit aside for 15-20 mins.

 2.  Gently mix all the ingredients for the filling in a separate bowl.

3.  Heat oil in a deep pan on medium heat. Divide the dough into 17-18 balls. Take a dough ball, flatten it into a disk, dust it with flour and roll it into a circle of about 4 inches in diameter.

4.   Take a tbsp of filling and place it on half side leaving about 1/2 inches on the edges. Apply water with your finger or a brush on edges and cover the filling side with the other half. Remove any air and press gently until sealed.

Ghughra ready to be sealed 

5.   Use the back of the fork to seal the ghughra properly, it will also create a nice impression on the edges of your ghughra.

Fork creates a nice impression on the edges

6.  Drop 2-3 ghughras in hot oil and fry them on medium heat for 2-3 mins. turning once until golden in color and  crispy from outside. Make sure you don't overcrowd your frying pan with too many ghughras else they will turn soggy.

Deep fried golden ghughra

7.  Once cooled, store them on the shelf in an airtight container. As they are made of mava and coconut, they will stay fresh for around 5 days. Make them this Diwali and impress your guests with this traditional scrumptious ghughras !!  Happy Diwali !!!

Nice and crispy ghughra