DOUGH

1. In a large mixing bowl, sift plain flour (maida)

2. Add salt and melted ghee (or margarine for vegans) to the flour

3. Rub the ghee into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.

4. Grab a handful of the mixture and press it together to make a clump. If the clump does not hold together nicely, add extra ghee (1 tsp at a time), rub thoroughly, and try again. If the clump sticks together without falling apart, the dough is ready for kneading. Note, if you use too much ghee, then the dough will absorb lot of oil during frying.

5. Knead the dough by gradually adding small amounts of water to the flour mixture.

6. The dough should be tight and firm but not be too hard. Just slightly tighter than roti/pasta dough.

7. Cover the dough with a damp cloth or cling film and set aside to rest for 15 minutes.

FILLING

1. Combine cashews, almonds, and pistachios in a food processor.

2. Pulse the processor to coarsely ground the dry fruit or chop them using a knife. Note: do not grind it into powder.

3. Melt the ghee (or margarine for vegans) in a frying pan over low heat.

4. Add in sultanas (raisins) and cook till they plump up.

5. Collect the plumped-up sultanas in a separate bowl for later use.

6. Keep the additional ghee in the wok to roast the remaining ingredients of the filling.

7. Add semolina to the warmed ghee and roast until it loses its rawness and turns a pale pink in colour.

8. Toss in the desiccated coconut and roast it until it is lightly toasted without change in the colour.

9. Add in the coarsely grounded cashews, almond, and pistachio mixture, cooked sultanas, and freshly crushed cardamom powder

10. Combine all the ingredients and roast for a couple a minutes

11. Turn off the heat and allow the filling mixture to cool completely.

12. Once the filling mixture is cooled, mix in powdered sugar thoroughly.

13. The filling is ready.

SHAPING

1. To make square bite size gujiya you require a pasta sheet roller and ravioli maker mould.

2. Set up the pasta sheet roller on the kitchen counter.

3. Give the rested dough one good knead, and then pull out a small portion of the dough to form a rectangular-shaped thick flat piece.

4. Adjust the roller thickness to its widest setting 1.

5. Dust the rectangular dough piece and feed it into the pasta sheet roller.

6. The dough will come out slightly more flattened and stretched. Pass the dough back again through the roller at the same thickness setting.

7. Now change the pasta sheet roller knob setting to 2 (which is one level thinner setting than the widest one).

8. Lightly dust the rollers and the dough sheet with flour. Feed the dough sheet through rollers to flatten further. Pass the dough sheet again on the same setting for smoother and longer sheet finish.

9. Again, change the setting to 3 and feed dough through rollers twice. The dough should be flexible, non-sticky, and as wide as the machine rollers.

10. Check the sheet thickness, if you are happy with it then stop rolling the sheet, if not then move to next setting and pass the dough sheet twice through the rollers.

11. I kept my dough sheet to a thickness of 2-3 mm and a length that was longer than the ravioli-mould tray to allow for indentation laid it on the ravioli mould.

12. When two sheets of dough are ready, place one sheet over the ravioli mould tray. Gently press the sheet into the square depressions of the mould to form square cups. Ensure the dough sheet is wide enough to sit over the raised zig zag edges.

13. Spoon of Gujiya filling into each pocket. You want enough filling in each ravioli to have a nice shape, but not so much that you will have trouble sealing the edges of the pasta.

14. Flatten the filling with the back of the spoon.

15. Wet all the edges of the dough lightly with water. This will help the gujiya to have a tight seal and not break when frying. Too much water or the dough will get sticky

16. Place another sheet of dough over the gujiya filling. This will form the bottom of the gujiya.

17. Press the two layers of pasta sheet together using a rolling pin. Start with gentle pressure to press out any air and to form a seal.

18. Then use more pressure especially on the zigzag grooves to cut the pasta into individual gujiyas.

19. Peel off excess dough from around the gujiya.

20. Turn the mould over and tap it on the counter to release the gujiyas. Use a knife to separate any gujiyas that are stuck together.

21. Place the gujiya in a single layer on a tray dusted with flour or lined with baking paper.

22. Make rest of the gujiyas and arrange them on a tray ready for frying.

23. Cover the gujiyas with a damp cloth to keep them from drying.

24. Shaping classic Gujiya  is detailed in the post.

FRYING

1. Heat ghee (or flavourless oil for Vegans) in a saucepan halfway full.

2. Test the ghee (oil) temperature by dropping a small piece of dough in the oil. If it takes 5-6 seconds to float up then the ghee is at perfect temperature to fry gujiya or else further heat or cool ghee (oil) to achieve the optimum temperature.

3. Gently slide the gujiyas in the ghee. Add enough pieces that can comfortably fit the frying pan and don’t overcrowd.

4. Fry gujiya at low to medium heat. Once the gujiyas float to the top, turn them over carefully and fry the other side.

5. Deep fry them till they have become golden brown. Keep turning or moving gujiyas at regular intervals for even browning.

6. Once gujiyas are golden brown and crispy from all sides, scoop them out of the ghee (oil) using a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel to absorb excess ghee.

7. Frying rest of the gujiyas in the same way.