Chandrakala is a very elegant and royal Indian sweet usually made during Diwali and Holi in North India. With a lot of variation it is also made in Maharashtra and south Indian States. It is quite similar to the humble Gujiya but richer in taste and looks. Unlike the Gujiya, it is round in shape and hence the name Chandrakala. It is also rightly called Rasbhari Chandrakala because when you bite into it you can taste the sugar syrup and sometimes it might drip down also. Making Chandrakala is an art, but with a little patience you can sail through this process easily . The outer covering is made of flour and the stuffing is traditionally made using dry fruits like raisins, coconut, almonds, and cashews, along with khoya, semolina, cardamom, sugar, and pistachio.
CHANDRAKALA gets the name from the shape. Chandrakala in Chandra means Moon, so it can half-moon shaped. Chandrakala recipe is very famous and very rich Indian sweets found in sweet stalls but we can make it at home too. Chandrakala sweet, is Indian Diwali sweets prepared with maida and khoya as main ingredients. These are prepared during Deepavali festivals or on special occasions at home. Quite a rich sweet as we stuff with koya and drynuts mixture and a syrupy outer layer, perfect for celebrations and festivals. The difficult part is the folding method of the sweet. But by practise you can make a super perfect foldings of the sweet. The beauty of the sweet is the foldings and then the taste of the sweet. Though the preparation of this sweet is little bit lenghty process but the sweets tastes so delicious.
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📌📌 Watch the full video recipe here 📌📌
INGREDIENTS :
TO MAKE THE DOUGH -
1 Cup Maida
2 tablespoon Ghee
Salt a pinch
Oil to deep fry
FOR SYRUP -
3/4 Cup Sugar
½ Cup Water
1 or 2 drops of Rose Essence OR 1 Cardamom powder
Few Saffron strands
FOR STUFFING -
1 Cup Khoya
1 tablespoon roasted Semolina/ Rava
2 tablespoon desiccated Coconut
2 tablespoon powder Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cardamom powder
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg powder
2 – 3 tablespoon chopped Dry-fruits
1 tablespoon Raisins
METHOD :
PREPARATION OF DOUGH -
STEP 1 - Prepare dough by mixing maida + salt + melted ghee .
STEP 2 - First mix this well to resemble bread crumbs. Take some mixture in your hand and try to press. If it holds the shape then the moyan is perfect.
STEP 3 - Add water little by little to make dough.
STEP 4 - Cover and keep aside for 30 mins.
PREPARATION OF STUFFING -
STEP 1 - Heat a heavy bottom pan, add crumbled khoya & roast for 2-3 minutes. Switch off the flame.
STEP 2 - Transfer into a bowl.
STEP 3 - Now roast the semolina for 2-3 minutes and mix with khoya.
STEP 4 - Let it cool completely. Mix all the ingredients of filling together and give a nice mix.
STEP 4 - Finally, add powder sugar and mix everything well until combined.
PREPARATION OF SUGAR SYRUP -
STEP 1 - Add sugar and water in a sauce pan and cook it on low flame.
STEP 2 - Prepare sugar syrup by boiling on medium- low flame till sticky consistency. ( half string consistency ). Off the flame and add rose essence / cardamom powder and saffron strands. Keep aside.
MAKING & SHAPING CHANDRAKALA -
STEP 1 - After the resting time, knead the dough again to make it into smooth and soft without any cracks.
STEP 2 - Divide the dough into 2 parts.
STEP 3 - Take one dough ball, roll to a thin sheet ,cut with lid as shown in pic .
STEP 4 - Take 2 circles ,add 2 tsp stuffing in the centre of one disc.
STEP 5 - Apply water on the edges.
STEP 6 - Cover with another circle. The edges should have less dough part, if too much dough is there, then you can trim with knife. Otherwise the edges will take long time to get cooked. Also the edges too thin, if the edges are thin then it may turn very crisp.
STEP 7 - First press at the edges to seal completely. Make sure to fold properly otherwise the stuffing might ooze out and spoil the oil
STEP 8 - Pinch fold and twist the edges continuously with your thumb and first finger to get pattern as shown in pic . The folding comes by practice.
STEP 9 - Heat oil in a kadhai .
STEP 10 - Slide in 2- 3 chandrakala at a time.
STEP 11 - Cook on a medium to low flame. If the oil is too hot, khoya will sure come out, so do not let the oil become very hot .
STEP 12 - Keep turning to ensure even browning. and fry until golden brown.
STEP 13 - Drain the excess oil and then add it to warm sugar syrup.
STEP 14 - Let it soak for 5 mins. After that turn so that the other side is also well coated with sugar syrup.
STEP 15 - Drain the extra sugar syrup and remove it from the syrup. Similarly, fry all and soak in sugar syrup.
STEP 16 - Arrange them on a plate / box .
STEP 17 - Decorate each chandrakala with a small piece of silver varq on top and sprinkle a little chopped pista.
Your ROYAL looking and delicious Chandrakala sweet is now ready to serve.
NOTES - * After mixing ghee, take some mixture in your hand and try to press. If it holds the shape then the moyan is perfect.
* Stuff with enough khoya mixture to get good looking chandrakala. Otherwise it will look flat.
* Make sure to fold properly otherwise the khoya might leak and spoil the oil. If the oil is too hot, khoya will sure come out, so do not let oil smoke.
* While folding, the edges should have less dough part and the beauty of the sweet is the folding design.
* While frying the Chandrakala, once they start to puff up reduce the heat to low and fry till light brown.
* If you cook in low to medium flame only the outer layer will be soft enough to absorb the syrup.
* You can use ghee/vanaspati or mix with oil and fry for best taste .
* Do not let the syrup pass more than 1 string consistency. For this sweet 1/2 string consistency is more than enough. For safer side you can add few drops lemon juice to prevent crystallization.
* See that the chnadrakal absorves sugar syrup well . The syrup should go inside the sweet, so make sure to soak for enough time 2-3 mins is enough. Keeping the syrup hot helps.
* The chandrakala sweet becomes soft next day and tastes, smells best from next day.
