CHANDRAKALA - HAPPY HOLI

After the long conversation about Holi in previous post. Let talk about something about this sweet. Chandrakala is among the gujiya family which is  famous snack during Holi festival. They are prepared with  mawa or khoya filling along with dry fruits. Once these sweet are fried they are then dipped into sugar syrup. Khoya is used in many Indian sweets. And they are easily available at stores, if you find hard to get or want to have  khoya which can be prepared at home.I shall give you the quick  recipe below. And if interested also  check my Mawa gujiya recipe

INGREDIENTS

 For Khoya /Mawa - Yields - 1cup

• Full cream milk - 1/2 cup
• Milk powder (I use non- fat milk powder of Nestle brand) - 1&1/4 cups

PREPARATION

• Combine both the ingredients into microwave safe  bowl and microwave it for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir occasionly after every 1 minute.
• The  mixture will become thick. And its ready to use  in any Indian sweet.

For Making Pastry

• All purpose flour - 2 cups
• Melted ghee - 2 tbsp or 1/4 cup
• Water to knead
• Oil for frying

For Filling

• Khoya/Mawa - 1 cup
• Cashewnuts - 2 tbsp, chopped
• Pistachios - 2 tbsp,chopped
• Almonds - 2 tbsp, chopped
• Raisins - 1 tbsp
• Dry dessicated coconut (unsweetened) - 2 tbsp
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tbsp

PREPARATION

For Making Pastry

• Combine all purpose flour and melted ghee into wide bowl. Knead well to a soft dough by adding little by little water.
• Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.

For Making Filling

• After the khoya is prepared. Scrap it all around the bowl if it is struck to the sides and mix it once.
• Then heat 1 tbsp of ghee into a pan and empty khoya from bowl into the pan.
• Saute the khoya till it slightly changes its colour . Do not worry if you see it becoming liquidy.
• Then add in sugar and stir continuously till you get a thick mixture.
• At some point you will see the khoya leaving the sides of the pan. Turn off the flame.
• Now add all the chopped dry fruits, dessicated coconut, cardamom powder and nutmeg powder. Mix everything well and cool it completely.

• After resting the dough for 15 minutes. Knead it once more and divide the dough into 30 small balls.
• Roll out each ball into 3 inch circle.  To make each chandrakala sweet, we need 2, 3 inch circle.
• Keep 1 circle on rolling board and place 1 tbsp of filling at the center. 
• Then apply little water at the edges on the below circle and place another circle on it.
• Stick all the edges properly to avoid any filling coming out while frying. 
• Then make the pattern  by just twisting the egdes.  Keep it cover with damp cloth and continue doing the same with remaining dough.
• Heat oil for deep frying. Deep fry chandrakala until golden brown on both the sides . Drain them on paper towel and allow it to cool completely.
• Them make the sugar syrup of 2 thread consistency. Dip each chandrakala into the syrup and  garnish it with nuts.