After a long time, I am taking part in another Blogging MArathon Series. And this edition is very special. You may remember the A-Z Blogging Marathon I did last year. When we finished that Marathon, immediately discussions began for this Indian States Themed Marathon. Srivalli chose 30 states and Union Territories and we need to cook a dish from each region. When Valli announced the states, I finished with the selection and finalisation of recipes within two days. And slowly I started making those dishes one by one. But still I haven’t finished with the dishes. Keeping my fingers crossed, I am posting the first recipe. I hope you will enjoy this series as much as you enjoyed the previous one.
The very first state to get featured in this BM # 39 is Andhra Pradesh. Also known as A.P, it is situated at the south east coast of India. The cuisine of Andhra is one of the famous cuisines of India. The savoury dishes I have tried out are quite spicy and I am a great fan of Andhra style pickles. When I was going through the recipes of different states, I noticed that the same dish with slight variations existed in many cuisines. To begin this marathon, I selected a sweet which I wanted to try for so many years but kept on postponing. Kaja is so much similar to chiroti or peni in preparation but is different to look. It tasted absolutely delicious with so many flaky layers soaked in sugar syrup.
Recipe Source: Spiceindiaonline
Makes 20 small Kajas
Ingredients:
Flour/ Maida-1 cup
Baking Soda-a pinch
Ghee-2 tbs
Rice Flour-1 tbs
Ghee-2 tbs
Sugar-1 cup
Water-1/2 cup
Cardamom Powder-1/4 tsp
Oil-To Deep Fry
Procedure:
1. Mix together flour, baking soda, ghee in a bowl.
2. Add enough water to make a firm dough.
3. Knead it for 3 minutes until soft and elastic.
4. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
5. Mix together rice flour and ghee to make a white paste.
6. Add water and cardamom powder to sugar and allow it to boil until it comes to 1/2 thread consistency.
7. Remove from flame.
8. Roll out the dough into a large thin rectangle.
9. Apply the rice flour paste evenly on the rectangle.
10. Starting from the smaller side roll it into a tight log.
11. Cut into 1 cm slices.
12. Pinch ends to make a tear shape.
13. Heat oil on medium flame.
14. Deep fry kajas oil until golden brown.
15. Transfer the fried kajas to warm syrup.
16. Let them soak for 3 minutes.
17. Remove and arrange on a plate and allow it to air dry until the syrup hardens.
18. Store in a jar and enjoy with a cup of coffee.
Mix flour, soda and ghee.
Add enough water to make a dough.
Make the sugar syrup.
Prepare rice flour ghee paste.
Shape the dough into a rectangle.
Roll it very thin.
Apply the paste evenly.
Roll into a tight log.
Cut into small slices.
You can see the layers.
Pinch the ends to make a tear shape.
Deep fry on medium flame.
Soak them in warm syrup.
Arrange on a plate.
Enjoy!!!
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 39
that is delicious!!! I am bookmarking it and hope to try it soon:) love the clicks!!
It has come out so well Gayathri! Nice way to start the mega BM with a sweet 🙂
Lovely kajas. Have seen these in sweet shops. I’ve always bought them by pointing them out. Never knew the name. Now I know. Would be lovely for a festival or special occassion as well. Your kajas have come out perfect.
Kajas have turned out so well Gayathri..it’s good to have you back!
wow! looks great.. so sweet!
What a delicious sweet to kick off the BM ! Gayatri – must appreciate ur strength and will power to make it to the BM inspite of the recent setbacks at ur end ! Ur step by step is very helpful – I will try to make this in a smaller portion .. Almost looks like flattened badusha , in a differnt shape .
Omg so perfectly made kajas 🙂 looks stupendous !!! and so very well explained 🙂 I wud love to grab some kajas from the screen dear 🙂 Can see the perfect layers , can’t take my eyes off them 🙂 great start with the mega marathon dear 🙂
That is soo delicious!! and seriously how you managed deciding the recipes in 2 days gayathri, wow!!! i m still to cook for 8 more states and going back to back on deciding what to do!!! kudos to you!!!:)
wow thats lovely dear wonderfully explained recipe with step by step pix 🙂
Gayathri loved the step by step pics..and trust me my mouth is watering. Really wish you could send some..:))
drooling recipe….i have seen it in the super markets but have never tried it. will try it soon.
Lovely madatha kaja’s.. They are so inviting & delicious.
They look perfectly done, Gayathri. Very inviting.
tempting and delicious sweet.
Love every bite of it ..Looks so good .Done perfectly
Same pinch Gayathri. I made the same for the first day. Yours looks perfectly flaky and delicious.
Looking forward to your posts this month.
this is my favorite sweet and never knew this was so easy to make or rather you have made it look so easy
Lovely kajas. Whata way to kick start a marathon. waiting for more yummy dishes. I am sure you will make up in no time Gayatri.
Its come out so well. Flaky and with so many layers :). Beautiful!
Nice! Very similar to chirote minus the last twist and roll. Looks lovely.
I have to make this kaja! The beautiful shape is calling my name ….Looking forward to the rest of your posts for the month!
Perfectly made kajas,they have come out very well and the layers so clear and cannot take of my eyes.Nice step wise tutorial..
I had tried khajas a few months back for a recipe for Jharkand but the folding procedure wasn’t explained well and it ended up in the garbage. yours looks so good and so glad to have you back with us for another marathon
Very crispy and attractive madatha khaja, i dont mind to munch some.
Looks so delicious
Wow .. looks delicious and tempting me
Perfectly done..Looks so neat n nice step by step pics…Looks really yummy!!
Woow, you got perfect layers Gayathri. Tempting kajas!!
Simply superb
This recipe is new to me, looks very crispy and delicious..
Khajas turned out perfect. Looking forward to your posts for the next one month
Delectable khajas. They have turned out perfect.
A layered delicacy. Love their shapes and would love to try them out soon.
Can you use oil instead of ghee and make a rice flour and oil paste to apply between layers?
Yes Anna, you can but the flavour of ghee is superb…
Gayathri, I tried making these kaja’s and they looked and tasted really good as soon as I took them out of the sugar syrup. However, after a few hours, they looked really dry both inside and out (the taste was still not bad). Could you please help me understand why this happened? Was the sugar syrup undercooked? Kaja’s didn’t absorb enough syrup? What makes them dry out after a while? Any suggestions would greatly help. Thank you!
VP, thanks for trying. If the sugar syrup is over cooked then this will happen. he kajas will not absorb very thick syrup. So the inside will no be juicy. Try to remove syrup little earlier.
Khaja looks so delicious and wondeful!