Give a refreshing twist to gujiya with these Paan Gujiya where the gujiyas are filled with a paan filling made with mawa, fresh paan leaves, fennel and gulkand. Air fry or deep fry them for a delicious festive treat.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 60 minutes
  • Cook time: 16 minutes
  • Total time: 76 minutes
  • Yield: 12 gujiya
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 1 cup all purpose flour (130 grams)
  • pinch salt
  • 2 tablespoons ghee (melted, 30 ml)
  • water (to knead the dough, around 1/4 cup)

Paan filling

  • 125 grams mawa (dried milk solids)
  • 4 large paan leaves (chopped, use more if the leaves are smaller)
  • 2-3 tablespoons desiccated coconut powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 & 1/2 tablespoon paan masala
  • 1 tablespoon tutti frutti
  • 1 tablespoon gulkand (rose petal preserve)
  • 2 drops peppermint extract
  • 1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar (to taste, also known as confectioners sugar or icing sugar)

Sugar syrup

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup granulated white sugar (100 grams)
  • few drops paan essence (optional)

Method

Make the gujiya dough

  1. Start by making the gujiya dough. To a large bowl, the flour, salt and 2 tablespoons of melted ghee. Mix the ghee into the flour by rubbing it between your palms. Do this a few times until the mixture looks like crumbs.
  2. then add water little by little and knead to form a relatively tight dough. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes.

Make the paan filling

  1. Roast mawa in a pan on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes until it turns very light golden brown in color, then transfer it to a blender along with paan leaves and blend to a paste.
  2. Transfer the paste to a bowl and to that add desiccated coconut powder, fennel seeds, paan masala, tutti frutti and gulkand. Also add powdered sugar and peppermint extract and mix until everything is well combined.

Roll and fill the gujiya

  1. Once the dough has rested, divide it into small balls, around 20 to 25 grams each. Keep the dough balls covered with a damp cloth to prevent drying. Meanwhile, mix 2 tablespoons of flour with 3 tablespoons of water. This paste will be used to seal the gujiya. Roll dough balls into circles of around 5 to 6 inches diameter. Place the rolled dough over the gujiya mold. Apply the flour and water paste all around the edges. Fill the gujiya with 1 to 1 &1/2 tablespoon of paan filling.
  2. Close the mold to seal the gujiya. Remove the excess dough from the sides. Make all gujiyas simialrly. And remember to keep them covered until you cook them to prevent them from drying.

Cook the gujiya

  1. You can either deep fry or air the gujiya. I air fried them. Preheat the air fryer according to the manufacturer's instructions. Place the gujiyas into the air fryer and spray them with an oil spray. I was able to air fry 8 gujiyas in one batch. Air fry at 360 F degrees for 14 to 17 minutes or until golden brown in color. Each air fryer is different so adjust the timings accordingly.
  2. Make a sugar syrup by adding 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar to a pan. Once the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to boil, let it boil for 4 to 5 minutes until it gets a little sticky and then turn off the heat. Add few drops of paan essence if you have it. Drop the gujiyas into the sugar syrup, 30 seconds on each side and then remove them from the syrup using a tong dripping any excess syrup. Place them on parchment paper and garnish with crushed tutti frutti and edible silver leaves. Once the syrup dries off, store them in an airtight container.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.