Kajjikayalu/Andhra Sweet Dumplings

Diwali/Dipavali is festival of lights. Dipa means lamp or light and Avali means row or series. On that day, houses will be cleaned and decorated with lights and pray Goddess Lakshmi and burst crackers and distribute sweets. There are many stories for celebrating Diwali.
As per Ramayana the Great Hindu Epic, People of Ayodhya celebrated the return of Lord Rama along with Sita to Ayodhya after 14 years living in the forest as Diwali by lighting the diyas and busting crackers.

As per Mahabhrata another Great Hindu Epic, People of Hastinapura celebrated the return of Pandavas, their mother and wife to Hastinapura, who was defeated by their brothers, the Kauravas in a dice game and in exile for 13 years.

Other story about Diwali, on that day Goddess Lakshmi was rose up from ocean while Gods and Demons are churned the ocean to get Amrita, which makes Gods and Demons immortal. Many divine objects came up while churning the ocean. Lord Vishnu married Goddess Lakshmi on that day which is celebrated as Diwali.

Another story is Lord Vishnu killed Demon Narakasura and rescued many women, the day before Diwali which is celebrated as Nraka Chaturdashi. The people of heaven and earth celebrated the former day as Diwali.

Another story is, Satyabhama, wife of Lord Krishna, attacked the demon Narakasura, son of Goddess Bhudevi, while Lord Krishna was injured by Narakasura and killed him and rescued many women. Before Narakasura's death, he requested a boon from Satyabhama, that everyone should celebrate his death with colorful lights. So this day is celebrated as 'Naraka Chaturdashi' - the day before Diwali and the former day as Diwali.

Kajjikayalu is an traditional Andhra sweet. It is a sweet dumpling made with maida and stuffed with coconut and sugar. There are different stuffing like coconut-khoya, coconut-rava..... Kajjikayalu are similar to Gujia, a North Indian sweet, made with rava or maida stuffed with khoya.  


Yield - 36-40
Ingredients:

• All purpose flour/Miada  - 3 cups
• Grated Coconut - 2 cups (Fresh or Dry. I am using fresh)
• Putnala pappu powder/Roasted gram - 1 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Salt - 1/2 tsp ot to taste
• Ghee - 5 tsp

Preparation:

• Add salt and 3 tsp ghee to all purpose flour/maida and mix well. Add water to maida and make into dough. Dough shouldn't be too soft.  Cover and keep it aside while preparing stuffing.

Preparing Stuffing:

• We can also use sooji/Rava  instead of putnala pappu/roasted gram.
• Can also use poppy seeds/Gasagasalu. If you like them to add dry roast the poppy seeds and remove from the pan.
• Now add 2 tsp ghee and roast the coconut till golden brown. If using fresh coconut, it will take little bit long to roast then dry coconut.
• Add sugar to the hot coconut so that it will melt or add sugar powder and roasted gram/putnala pappu powder and cardamom powder.

Making Kajjikayalu:

• Divide the dough into lemon size balls and cover. Take one ball and roll and place 2 to 3 tablespoon filling in the middle depending on the size of your rolled dough and close it carefully and press the ends and pinch the ends as shown in the picture.

• In a skillet heat oil for deep fry and fry the 3 to 4 kajjikayalu at a time on medium heat till they turn brown. Oil must be hot enough. 

• Cool and store them in air tight container up to 1 month.