Gujjiya by Satej Saigaonkar, Executive Chef, Holiday Inn Chennai
Somehow festivals evoke bittersweet nostalgia when celebrated outside India, and it was no different for Executive Chef Satej Saigaonkar at Holiday Inn Chennai. A true blue Maharashtrian, Satej recounts of a time in the early-2000s, when he celebrated a very special Holi back in Washington DC. “There were very few Indians there. I was feeling particularly homesick as Holi was approaching. My executive chef there noticed, and in a very sweet gesture, threw a surprise Holi bash for all of us. I made it a point to make all my Maharashtrian favourites including puran poli, modaks, a baked version of the gujjiya and the katta sa rasa,” says Satej. In Maharashtra, Satej says, Holi is celebrated a day before the actual festival and involves a pooja and Bhogi.
Recipe for Gujjiya
Ingredients
For the filling:
Grated jaggery: 2 cups
Whole wheat flour:
1 cup
Grated dry coconut: 1 cup
Semolina: 1/2 cup
Sesame seeds: 1/4 cup
Poppy seeds: 1/4 cup
Almond oil: 3tbsp
Cardamom powder: 1 tsp
Nutmeg: A pinch
For the crust:
Semolina: 1/2 cup
All-purpose flour: 1/2 cup
Salt: 1 tsp
Sugar: 2-3 tbsp
Oil or ghee: 2-3 tbsp
Milk+water: 1 cup
Method:
To make the filling, dry-roast the coconut, sesame and poppy seeds in a pan separately until they turn golden brown. Grind.
Roast the semolina in a pan with 1 tbsp ghee or oil till it turns golden brown. Set aside.
Finely grind all the ingredients for filling, semolina, jaggery, cardamom and nutmeg.
To make the outer crust, heat 3 tbsps of ghee in a pan. Mix flour, semolina, sugar and salt in to a bowl. Pour hot ghee and milk and knead.
Once the dough is pliable, cover it with a damp cloth and rest it for at least two hours.
Next, divide it into four equal-sized balls. Roll them out, apply a thin layer of oil and mould to form tight rolls.
Cut each of these four elongated rolls into 10 one-inch pieces each. Set aside.
Shape each of these into small circular pooris. Place the filling on one side, and fold the other half, till
you have a crescent shaped poori. Repeat for the others.
Deep fry all the prepared gujjiyas in hot oil, until golden brown. Serve hot.