Karanji

I am back with one more faral item, my favorite, Karanji। Last week, I saw a poll about favorite faral item and the author had not listed Karanji in the options!! I was quite pissed off, so decided not to vote ;) Jokes apart, but I just love karanji, and I manage to make at least a few of these every Diwali no matter how busy I am. You can find many version easily on the web, but the recipe I am going to share is my mom's. The filling is very soft and these are more whitish than reddish/ brown. While making karanjis I always remember this poem I had learned in preschool.

गोरी पान करंजी नावेसारखी दिसते,
पोटातले खाताच आणखी खावी वाटते!

So, here goes the recipe.

Ingredients

For filling

• 2 cups dessicated coconut
• 1/2 cup Semolina/ Rava/ Suji
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp ghee
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
• Cardamom powder

For dough

• 1 cup all-purpose flour / Maida
• 1 tsp ghee
• 1/4 cup milk
• water
• Oil/ ghee for frying

Method:

1. In a pan, add 1 tsp ghee. Heat on medium flame. When ghee melts, add Semolina.
2. Fry until it's golden brown in color. Add poppy seeds to it. Fry for a minute.
3. Turn heat off. Add dessicated coconut to this, and mix well.
4. Add powdered sugar and cardamom powder. The feeling is ready.
5. For the dough, take maida in a bowl. Heat the ghee, and add to the maida. Add the milk and mix well. Add water to this to make a thick dough.
6. Knead well, and set this dough aside for 15-20 minutes. Keep it covered with a damp cloth.
7. To make karanji, take 1 inch ball of the dough. Roll it to make a thin disc.
8. Put the filling at the center of one half of the disc leaving the edge. Then cover it with the other half bringing the edges over each other. Seal the edges properly so that the mixture doesn't come out. Make sure there is no air inside the sealing.
9. With karanji cutter, cut off the excessive part of the edges. Be careful while doing so as if you cut very close the filling the karanji would open up. (If you don't have a cutter, just twist the edges. )
10. Keep this karanji in a plate or on paper and cover with damp cloth to make sure that it doesn't harden while you are making the remaining karanjis.
11. Make all remaining karanjis in the same way and keep them covered. Don't forget to keep your dough covered.
12. Heat ghee/ oil on medium heat. Deep fry karanjis one by one. You can serve hot or store in a container.

Tip
Adjust the sugar to your taste. I add some extra sugar so that it goes well with the covering.

Note
Since this filling contains more of the coconut, it doesn't last long. It's good for about 4-5 days (depending on temperature).