Karjikai Recipe

5 from 16 votes

It's quite common for Indians to prepare this karjikai recipe for festivals like Diwali or Ganesha Chaturthi.

Prep Time6

Cook Time37

Total Time43

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Allergen: Dairy free, Peanut free, Soy free

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: Karjikai

Calories: 49kcal

In a large mixing bowl mix all-purpose flour (maida), Sooji, and salt.
1 cup All purpose flour or maida, 1 tablespoon sooji/rava, ¼ teaspoon salt
Heat the cooking oil over medium heat and pour it over the all-purpose flour.
3 teaspoon hot oil
Mix well (safely) and crumble the dough well with your hands.
Now add water gradually, little by little, and start to knead the dough. Continue to knead until the dough is soft and consistent. Cover with a moist cloth and rest for 10 minutes.
¼ cup water

Place a pan over medium heat add frozen or fresh grated coconut. Then add jaggery and 1 tablespoon water. As the jaggery dissolves, continue to stir the coconut and jaggery to get an even mix.
1 cup grated coconuts, ½-¾ cup grated jaggery
To avoid any of the stuffing from sticking to the bottom, stir continuously as you mix the ingredients. This forms a moist mixture.
Add cardamom powder and chopped nuts and mix well to get it evenly distributed.
½ teaspoon cardamom powder, 2 teaspoon chopped nuts (cashews, almonds)
The stuffing is ready now. Place it aside and let it cool down to room temperture.

Knead the dough gently and roll/flatten a lemon-sized ball into a thin circle.
Generally, the thinner the better, but thick enough for you to fold them in later. Rolling them thin is very important to get a crispy texture for Karjikai.
Apply water to the edges and put the stuffing in the center.
Fold it, press, and seal the edges for a neat little puff. Alternately, you could also use Karanji molds for this purpose.
Set up the deep fry pan with enough oil. Once the oil is hot, deep fry each puff on medium flame.
Continue to fry until they turn golden brown.
Crispy and tasty Karanji is ready. Serve it warm or store them in an air-tight container for up to a week.

Do not panic if you cannot fold or seal the karjikai as shown in the pictures. Seal the two edges and pinch them with the backside of a fork. This should be an easy hack for a perfect gujiya shape.
Make sure the dough is moist and not hard. The moist dough will help in getting the right shape and folding easily.
Adding Sooji or rava makes them crispy. Be sure not to skip it.