ChandraKanta-ChandraKala-Gujiya

Chandrakala/Chandra kanta or Gujiya is an Indian sweet popularly prepared around Holi in which milk fudge is stuffed in a flour  casing and fried and coated with sugar syrup.This ooyee gooyee dessert is an Indian favorite.  

Preparation time:1 hour for stuffing,1 hour for the casing and syrup

Serves:36 pieces

Ingredients For stuffing: 

1/2 gallon Milk(1 litre)

1/2 cup Sugar

1/4 cup slivered Almonds + pistachios  

1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

Follow instructions in palakova recipe  for the stuffing.In the laast step add the cardamom powder and slivered nuts and combine before taking it off from the stove and let it cool.

Ingredients For Dough Casing:

 2 cups Maida/plain flour

2 tbsp Ghee

1/4 cup milk

1/4-1/2 cup water (as needed to knead the flour)

Oil/Ghee for deep frying

1 cup sugar

slivered pistachios for garnish

Procedure:

1.Take the maida flour in a mixing bowl. Add ghee and mix well.

2.Add milk and combine. Add water little at a time to form a dough. It should be firm like puri dough.

3.Make lemon sized roundles and roll each roundle into a flat disk like a puri.You can also use a cutter to get the perfect round shape

4.Place stuffing in the center and fold it in half.If you have a gujiya press you can use that.

5.Fold in the edges. You can either do this with hand or use a fork to press down and seal the edges. Repeat this with all the remaining dough.

6.Take the sugar in a separate pan and heat it with 1/4 cup water. Boil the sugar and water into a rolling boil. The test is when you put a drop of the syrup in cold water it will form a light shape but when you shake it, it will dissolve.Keep the syrup warm on the lowest flame.

7.Fry all chandrakanta/gujiya in a medium flame till golden.

8.Remove from oil, let it drain the oil an while it is hot transfer the chandrakala into the sugar syrup and let it absorb the syrup. Garnish it with slivered pistachios 

Tips:

Make sure you seal the chandrakanta/gujiya properly or your filling will ooze out and burn.

You can also add some roasted coconut in the filling if you like.

Keep the filling slightly less sweet so that syrup and filling don't overpower the sweetness.

These will stay at room temperature for 2 days.