KAJJIKAYALU

Cuisine: Andhra Pradesh, India

INGREDIENTS:

Dough

Whole wheat flour (sieved through a thin cloth or fine sieve) – 1.5 kg

Salt – 1 teaspoon

Filling

Jaggery (grated) – 1.5 kg

Groundnuts – 750g

Sesame seeds – 250g

Cashew nuts (chopped into small pieces) – 350g

Coconuts (shredded) – 4 (small to medium sized)

Cardamom powder – ½ teaspoon

Oil – for deep frying

METHOD:

1. Heat a pan and dry-roast the groundnuts until slightly golden brown. Remove them from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, dry-roast the sesame seeds until a nice aroma rises.

2. Dry-roast the shredded coconut in the same pan until golden brown. Remove and set aside.

3. Roast the cashew nuts in a teaspoon of oil until golden brown. Remove them from the pan.

4. Remove the peels from the roasted groundnuts and grind them into a coarse powder.

5. In a large bowl, combine the jaggery, groundnut powder, roasted sesame seeds, roasted cashew nuts, roasted shredded coconut and cardamom powder. Mix well until everything is evenly combined.

6. In another bowl, add the whole wheat flour. Gradually add water and mix to form a soft but firm dough. Let the dough rest for 1 hour.

7. Take a portion of the dough and roll it into a small ball. Roll the ball into a thin chapatti.

8. Grease the kajjikayalu mold with oil and place the rolled chapatti over it. Add a tablespoon of the filling mixture to the center. Apply a little water around the edges and press the mold together firmly to seal the kajjikai.

9. Open the mold and carefully remove the kajjikai. Do not leave the prepared kajjikayalu unfried for too long, as they can become dry. Make them in small batches—prepare a few, fry them, and then make the next batch.

10. Heat oil in a deep pan. Fry the prepared kajjikayalu over medium heat until golden brown.

11. Let them cool completely before storing them in an airtight container. They can be stored for more than a month.