Hi everyone. I am Aarti and this is my first guest post here. Obviously, you don’t know me so here is some information about myself that I’d like to share. I love to cook, especially for my husband and our teenage daughter. I love to come up with simple yet innovative dishes, that are both nutritious and appealing to the taste-buds. I love to experiment with different types of cuisines, which most of the times evolve into ‘fusion-dishes’. My family willingly and lovingly participates in tasting and critiquing my food which encourages me to drives my passion for cooking. I love multiple cuisines and I have realized that after moving to the US, I have enjoyed making my own fusion foods. Hope you find this recipe interesting and delicious too.
What are Gujiyas?
If you haven’t heard of Gujiays before, there are sweet crispy hand pies or dumplings stuffed with either semolina, dried fruits, and nuts or even khoya which is similar to Ricotta cheese, except it has less moisture. It’s typically a festive Indian treat made during Holi, Diwali and Ganesh Chaturthi. Like many Indian dishes, it is named and made differently in different parts of India. So there can be several variations to this one classic dessert.
Ever since I moved to the US, I was never really encouraged or enthusiastic about making the traditional Gujiyas. However, my love for fusion made me come up with this modern take on the classic Gujiya.
Modern Fusion Gujiyas
I am sure you can relate to the effort and time that goes into perfecting those hand pies. Honestly, with my schedule of taking my daughter to classes and my job etc, I thought if just I could take away the part of making the batter and folding the hand pies, life would be so much simpler. So thanks to the phyllo cups that I was able to get the perfect crispy flaky texture of the hand pies and didn’t require a lot of time and effort giving them the perfect shape. All I had to do was prepare the mixture and scoop it into the ready-to-eat phyllo shells, simple as that. No folding, no mess, no frying!!! Phyllo cups already have the perfect cute shape for a dessert cup plus they are less than half the size of a traditional gujiya. So perfectly portion controlled. You can either bake them or air-fry them.
Gujiya Stuffing
Now let’s get to the main part, the stuffing. There are so many variations here. Since I like to keep things easy, minimalist and yet delicious I am going with the popular Semolina stuffing. It’s literally roasting the semolina and dry coconut with some dried nuts and some cardamom. Trust me the roasting aroma will make it hard for you to wait to grab that first bite. No fancy ingredients here, just semolina, coconut, sugars, cardamom and whatever nuts or raisins you would like to add. If you are looking for a naturally sweetened version of Gujiyas, then here is a different version using just dried fruit and nuts. This is a skinnier version of the typical gujiyas.
Why you will love these Skinny Gujiyas?
No fry No khoya No wrapping Quick & easy Portion controlled
Hope you consider trying these skinny gujiyas for your next get together. If you do try them, don’t forget to take a picture and send it our way. Stop by and leave us a comment letting us know what did you think of these Skinny Gujiyas. If you are looking to satisfy your sweet tooth with more healthier options, check out these ideas, here. If you are looking to make something savory to go with these Gujiyas, then here are 8 ways you can serve Samosas. A perfect combo of sweet and savory. This guest post by our friend Aarti Mistry was originally posted on Feb 27, 2015, and has been updated with new content.
Preheat the oven / OTG at 350 F and bake the fillo shells for about 5-7 minutes. Allow them to cool.Fill the fillo cup with the gujiya mixture decorate it with either almonds / raisins / cranberries or saffron.
Air Fryer
Fill the fillo cup with the gujiya mixture decorate it with either almonds / raisins / cranberries or saffron.air fry them on 325 * 5 mins .
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