Sailu's Kajjikayalu for RCI : Andhra Festival Foods

RCI : July 2008 made me explore untreaded territory in terms of regional Indian cuisine. This month, the theme is Andhra Festival Foods and I really had no idea about Andhra cuisine let alone Festival foods! I decided to search around and immediately came across the Kajjikayalu recipe on Sailu's website "Sailu's kitchen". I was really happy to see that this particular recipe was simple without an extensive list of ingredients and for the first time, I had everything at hand! I tucked the recipe away in the exhaustive must-try list. Sailu had really beautiful pictures in her post that were really tempting and had given clear step-by-step instructions. I was unsure if I would be able to make them as decorative as hers. I finally made them a couple of days before and somehow I mastered the technique soon. I definitely can see that mine didnt turn out to be as pretty as Sailu's but sure were tasty!! This sweet is really easy to make and I dont know if this is new to many of you, but if you haven't already, do try this out! Its quick, pretty and delicious! What more could you want out of a sweet!!? Yum!! I only made a quarter of the recipe given on her site. I am posting the modified recipe here. Check out her blog for the actual recipe which would yield 60 sweets, while mine are on their way to RCI : Andhra Festival Foods over at Vani's Batasari.

Recipe (Makes 15 kajjikayalus) :

Dough pockets:

All purpose flour - 125g
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Water - as needed to make a dough
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying

For the filling:

Sweetened flaked coconut - 2 tbsp
Sooji/semolina - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Cashewnuts - 1 tbsp, coarsely ground

Method:

Make a dough with maida, salt, ghee and water which is soft and pliable.

Divide the dough into 15 portions and shape them into small balls.

Keep aside covered with a wet paper towel for 30 minutes.

In a skillet, dry roast the coconut until light brown.

Keep aside.

In the same skillet, dry roast the semolina until light brown and take it off the heat.

Mix together the coconut, semolina, cardamom powder, sugar and cashewnuts to make the filling. Keep aside.

Take one dough ball at a time and roll it out into thin circles.

Spread a tablespoon of the filling on one half of the rolled out dough.

Wet your finger and run it along the edges of the spread out dough with water and fold over to the opposite end, thus enclosing the filling.

Press the ends firmly so that it is sealed completely and twist around the edges in a ripple-fashion (check out Sailu's pictures).

Heat enough oil in a wide vessel to fry the stuffed kajjikayalu.

Drop 3-4 kajjikayalu into the oil slowly and deep fry them till golden brown.

Turn it over once it is golden brown on one side and then cook the other side.
Drain on paper towels.

Serve and enjoy!!


Tips:

1. The actual recipe mentioned using dry coconut which is finely grated instead of flaked sweetened coconut.
2. Sailu's recipe used finely chopped cashewnuts in the filling.
3. It also used a bit of ghee to roast the coconut and semolina, which I omitted.
4. Check out Sailu's post for pictures and tips on storing the kajjikayalus.

Enjoy everyone!!