NUTTY GHUGHRA/GHUJIYA

It’s almost been a year since I posted a new recipe. Life has been like a roller coaster ride for a while. Finally I have gotten some breather so decided to post a new recipe for you all. And what better time than around Diwali to make a comeback!!!!  Diwali is just few days away soo today I am sharing one of the top recipes I learnt from my Mum in law. For someone like me, who prefers savory over sweet, this recipe might just be the one to change that preference of yours. Sweet but not overpowering. A perfect Diwali sweet and a 100% party pleaser. There are a lot of ghughra variations, sooji one being the traditional, but this nutty recipe is going to be a game changer. Trust me on that!!!!!

My lovely Mum in law learnt this from her mom and makes them every year during Diwali and this year I made sure I learnt them. Here I am sharing one of her treasured recipes with you all. Do give it a try and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Prep Time: 25 mins | Cook Time: 25 mins | Total Time: 50  mins | Serves: 17-20 Ghughras

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Maida or all purpose flour
• ¼ cup Ghee or clarified butter
• Pinch of salt
• Water as needed for making the dough
• 1 cup desiccated/shredded dry coconut (unsweetened)
• ¼ cup almonds 
• ¼ cups cashew nuts
• 1 tbsp pistachios
• 1 tbsp Charoli or Cuddapah almond (optional)
• 5 tsp ghee or clarified butter
• 2 tsp khus khus or poopy seeds
• 1 tsp elaichi or cardamom powder 
• ¼ cup confectioners sugar or powdered sugar 
• Oil to fry

Directions:

1. Take a bowl, mix the flour and ghee and pinch of salt and slowly start adding water to knead the dough. Add water as needed and knead till the dough is soft and smooth.
2. Cover the dough with a damp cloth.
3. Next, heat a nonstick pan. Now add 2 tsp ghee. Add the desiccated or shredded coconut. toast on medium low flame till fragrant.
4. Once you smell the aroma of coconut, take it out in a bowl and keep it aside.
5.  In the same pan add 1tsp ghee and toast the almonds till fragrant and then take it out in a bowl and keep aside. Same way toast the cashews and then the pistachios (separately using 1tsp ghee for each). Now let the nuts cool down. 
6. Once they are at room temperature, pulse them in a grinder/blender. ( the mixture should be like a coarse powder.
7. Now take a big bowl. Mix together the coconut, crushed nuts, charoli, poppy seed, cardamom powder and sugar. Mix well till everything comes together.
8. And now for the fun part! Take the dough and give  another knead. Make small balls. Make sure you keep them covered. You don’t want the dough to be dry. 
9. Now take one dough ball and roll it into a small thin puri.
10. Place the stuffing in the middle and seal the puri in a semi circle shape. Make sure the edges are sealed well. Now start with one end, by pinching and twisting. If it’s easier you can seal it with fork like you would do for empanadas. Or you could use mold. Repeat the steps for all the ghughras.
11. Now take a frying pan and add oil for frying. Oil should be in a good quantity for the ghughras to float and rise up. Heat the oil on a low flame.
12. Once the oil is hot, deep fry the ghughras on low flame until they are slightly golden brown. 

Enjoy!

Notes:

• We used suku kopru or  kachli, and shredded it. But desiccated coconut works well too.
• You can store the ghughra in glass or plastic airtight containers. You can keep them in pantry or refrigerated if you are making a big batch.
• You can make the filling a day ahead.