Diwali Special - Ghughra

It is the festival season that makes us all nostalgic. There are so many wonderful memories of Diwali that I don't know where to start. As we were growing up, we watched Baa and Mom whip up wonderful snacks and sweets for Diwali. The Saat-padi nimki (7 layered salty snack), fafda, mathia and my favorite Ghughra were quintessential and almost synonymous with Diwali in our house. Diwali was the only time Mom would undertake the massive task of preparing them. Ghughra making time for almost like an assembly line - My sister dividing the dough into small balls, I rolled them into flat discs, Baa would fill and close them and Mom would fry them into crispy golden deliciousness.

Ghughra

All through the process, I would be eagerly waiting for that first bite of the Ghughra I'd been waiting to eat since last Diwali! Often, I begged Mom to make it at other times of the year, but she never agreed. I now know that it is an undertaking that she was willing to go though only once in a year! :)

This year, Diwali came a bit early in my house with my parents visiting us here. As a pleasant surprise, Mom agreed to make all the Diwali goodies for me before they returned back to India. Needless to say, we heralded the festive season with delicious Ghughra. Here it goes:

Prep time - 2 hours
Yield - 35-40 pieces

Ingredients:

Filling:
400 grams Khoya/ Mava (room temperature)
1/3 cup chopped cashews
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup pistachios
1/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup sugar or more to taste
1 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder

Dough:
11/2 cups All purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp ghee
Water

Ghee for frying

Method:

Filling:

Khoya filling

• In a medium pan, roast the mava/ khoya until slightly golden brown and aromatic. Stir continuously.
• Crush all the dried fruits into a course powder in a grinder. Gently mix the dried fruits with the roasted mava, stirring continuously. 
• Add raisins, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and sugar.
• Stir for 5 minutes till sugar is evenly mixed and remove from heat.
• Let it cool completely.

Dough:

• Mix all purpose flour, salt and ghee together. 
• Add small amounts of water as required and knead it into a soft dough. 
• Divide the dough into small penny sized balls and cover with a damp cloth.

Ghugra making: 

• Once the filling is completely cooled, start rolling the dough balls into small discs, much like puris. 
• Take a tablespoon of the filling and heap it on one side of the disc. Gently fold the other half of the disc on top of the filling, to make a half moon shape.
• Now pinch the dough on the end of the semicircle and twist it to seal the edges. This can be done using a fork, too. Just gently press a fork tongs on the dough edges to seal and ensure that the filling does not pop out while frying.

Dough edges pinched and twisted to seal the filling inside

• Repeat until all ghugras are ready to fry.
• Fry in ghee till golden and crispy.

Golden delicious Ghughra

I'm glad Diwali came early to my house :)

Bon Appetit!

Hetal from Houston