Gujiya/Karanji with homemade mawa from ricotta cheese!

This one is my mom recipe and my favourit since I was a little kid. I just looove these gujiyas. These are made at our place mostly during diwali and some special occasions. My Mom makes these yummys and I would try to hide the box, so that it lasts long!!
I made the mawa/khoya which is used in this at home, it was so easy and came out really good. I used ricotta cheese for it.

These curls around the gujiya makes them look more beautiful, I learnt them from my aunt. My mom would not have the time and patience to do these, so everytime gujiyas were made, it was by job to do the curls, i didnt mind it, coz I so love these!
I have made a short video to show how these curls are made, it is my first attempt at a video, so plz ignore the follies!

Ingredients:
For the dough:
Maida/ APF - 2cup
Olive oil - 1/4 cup (you can use any cooking oil)
Pinch of Salt

                                                                                                    Homemade mawa/khoya

For The Filling:
Mawa-2 cups
Grated Coconut-2 cups
Sugar-2cups
Nuts of your choice(I used soaked and peeled almond, chopped finely)
Sooji/ Rava-1/4 cup (optional)
Ghee-1/2tbs
Cardamom Powder-1 tsp
cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp
pinch of salt
Oil- For Deep Frying

Procedure:

To make the mawa:
For making mawa from ricotta cheese, just add 2 tsp ghee in a non stick pan and 250gm ricotta cheese. Keep stirring on medium flame for about 15 mins. The water from the cheese will evaporate and you will have a semi solid mawa ready

The Outer Dough:
In a bowl add oil, maida and salt, rub until it resembles bread crumbs.. Add water little by little to form a firm dough. Divide it into 15 equal portions. Cover and keep it aside.

For The Filling:
In a pan, heat ghee and roast sooji until golden. Take this sooji out in a bowl. Mix in the mawa, sugar,  Sliced nuts, cardamom powder and coconut powder. Divide it into 15 equal portions.

Preparing the Gujiyas:
Roll a ball of dough into a thin circle. Place the one portion of the filling on one side of the circle. Bring the other side over the filling, apply water on the margin and press the edges. You can curl the edges as I have, please refer to the video or you can cut it with a knife and press firmly.

Heat oil. Add the prepared gujiyas and fry on medium low flame until both the sides are golden. Drain oil and transfer to a plate. When cool store in airtight jar.



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