Make Gujiya at home this Holi, here is a simple recipe from Indo Canadian Club for you !

Holi is one of the biggest celebrations in the Northern district of India. With the appearance of spring, when the climate is pleasant, individuals in ancient times made colors out of followers and commended the celebration with companions and family members. Each state has its legacy and culture identified with the festival Holi. Particularly in the state of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Hariyana. Mathura, the origin of Lord Krishna, has huge Holi festivities where individuals come from everywhere the world and join the merriments. Individuals play with flowers and food colors days before the real celebration. Lathmar Holi festivity is additionally generally known in Uttar Pradesh, where women hold the wooden sticks to hit men and men convey the shields to save themselves. The practice is taken in a fun and entertaining manner.

The Western nations have been attracted to the practice of Holi, you have probably seen Color Run Festivals in different pieces of Canada, and the United States coordinated throughout the summer months. Holi is played by every one of the Indians living abroad in various parts of the world, including the Caribbean. The West Indians appreciate the celebrations with Indian desserts and chutney music (a mix of popular and Bihari combination music).

The story behind the celebration comes from antiquated Hindu Mythology. The powerful fiend ruler HiranyaKashyapu's five year's old child named "Prahalad" adored Lord Vishnu religiously. The King didn't need his posterity to commend anybody aside from him; however, Prahalad was a major devotee. He remained in isolation, reciting just Lord Vishnu's name for hours every day, which drove his dad incredibly mad. He attempted to kill his child ordinarily, yet Lord Vishnu saved Prahalad. Once, Hiranyakashyapu sent his sister Holika who Lord Brahma favored that the fire would never mischief or consume her. A large get-together was arranged by welcoming the whole area, and a fire was set. They needed to give out a solid message to everybody by killing Prahalad out in public. Holika sat on the heap of woods and grinned towards the young man, welcoming him to sit in her lap as everybody gathered. The naive Prahalad went ahead to sit on her lap. In fear, he began reciting Lord Vishnu's name over and over. The occasion saw Holika consuming in the fire while Prahalad sat, holding submits contemplation. From that point forward, each year, a huge fire is coordinated a day before the primary Holi celebration. The following day is commended with heaps of tones, water weapons, and water inflatables.

Different sweet treats and savories are made at home; since the climate is acceptable, individuals made potato chips, papad weeks before the celebration. Namkeen, dahi bade, balushahi, laddoos, chaat, delectable tidbits are ready for the guests and family members. Quite possibly the most mainstream Holi snacks are Gujiya.

Here is the formula of Gujiya, in the event that you get inventive and feel like making some comfortable. Despite the fact that it requires a shape, you can likewise do it with your hands. You can likewise decide to bake them as opposed to frying them.

Ingredients

Ghee- 500 gms

Cashewnuts- 250 gms

Almonds- 250gms

Raisins- 100 gms

Khoya- 500gms

Sooji- 100gms

Powdered sugar- 250gms

All-Purpose Flour (Maida)- 500gm

Oil- to fry n for dough

Filling

1. You can buy either fresh khoya or choose frozen, whatever is easier to get.
2. Put it in the pot on medium heat and roast it until it mashes properly and turns light golden brown.
3. Put Cashews, Almonds, Raisins in a blender and make powder. If you don't get powdered sugar in your place, you can grind the sugar together with the nuts.
4. Now take a pot, put ghee to heat, add sooji to it, and fry until it turns golden brown. Keep the heat to medium so that it doesn't burn; the ghee should be hot before adding sooji, or else it would smell.
5. Now add roasted khoya, stir for a minute and add the powder you made with the nuts. Mix everything for at least 2-3 minutes.
6. Add powdered sugar; if you have already ground sugar with the nuts, remove the pot immediately from the gas as you don't want the sugar to burn. While preparing any dessert, sugar needs to be put at the end and set aside from the heat.
7. The filling is almost ready, just one cup of hot milk on top of it and set aside. Make sure to stir; we don't want the mixture to become wet.

Dough

After the mixture is ready, let it cool down and start making the dough. For making the dough for Gujiya, take maida in a big platter, make a hole in the center, add vegetable oil, milk, and a little bit of ghee and knead it on the floor. The dough is the main thing in Gujiya; there should be no lump, and it needs to be tight and moist. Add more oil as required whenever you need it. It's something like pastry dough.

Process

1. Roll round, bigger and transparent pooris. It needs to be very thin; you can see the other side of the rolling pin, that fine it should be.
2. Put it in your palm, fill a teaspoon of filling in the center and apply wet fingers dipped in a bowl to seal the edges. Then turn it in half; it will look like Empanada. Actually, Empanadas are something similar to Gujiya.
3. Seal the edges; if you have a mold, you can use that to give it a perfect shape; otherwise, use your fingers to roll it from one side to the other.
4. Make more Gujiyas following the same steps and keep it aside. Ensure they are adequately sealed, or else they will open while frying and scatter in the oil.

Fry or Bake Gujiya

You can choose to fry or bake Gujiyas. I have tried both ways, and they taste perfect with any of that.

Bake:Preheat the oven at 350F and bake Gujiya for about 15 minutes. Check the color; it should be golden brown.

Frying:Heat oil in a large pot and add a few; make sure you don't add large quantities as turning them around will be challenging. Reduce the heat and fry until they turn golden brown.

Remove and put them on tissues and let them cool down. You can store these Gujiyas in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Enjoy and let us know how it turned out.

Indo-Canadian Club wishes you all a very Happy Holi!

Written by :- Vandana Bhatt

www.vandanarajbhatt.com