KAJJIKAYALU

Kajjikayalu……. this is a famous traditional Andhra sweet. The light crunchy outer layer with sweet inside is very delicious. The inner filling can be any thing of your choice. Some use the sooji, sugar and coconut filling, some others use the nuts and jaggery with coconut. But going to the traditional recipe, fried bengal gram dal, jaggery, grated coconut are taken in equal ratio, mixed well and given a flavor of cardamom to make the most delicious kajjikayalu. Traditionally the kajjikayalu making mould is used, but if you do not have one of those you can use a fork to seal the edges. You can have these have moon shaped sweet after your lunch or dinner or have it as a tea time snack. They are so light and you can have 2 or 3 at a time.     
INGREDIENTS

• Maida                     2 cups
• Ghee                      2 Tsp
• Salt                         a pinch
• Water                     enough to make dough

For the filling

• Roasted bengal gram dal             1 cup
• Grated jaggery                            1 cup
• Chopped cashews                       1/2  cup
• Dry coconut powder                   1/4 cup
• Cardamom powder                      1 tsp

PROCEDURE
Add ghee and salt to maida and mix well. Now add water little by little and make a dough. Knead the dough for 10 minutes. The dough should be same as the puri dough. Rest the dough for 20 minutes.
Finely grind the roasted bengal gram dal to a fine powder. Grate the jaggery and use it. Mix the dal powder, grated jaggery, chopped cashews, dry coconut powder, cardamom powder. Do not grind all the ingredients. If the jagerry is too soft the whole thing will become a paste. The stuffing should be a powder and not a paste. 

Take a small amount of the dough and roll it into a small sized puri. The puri should be very thin.
Now place a Tsp of the stuffing on the puri.
Apply water to the edges of the puri. Wet your finger and run it along the edges of the puri.
Close the puri to form a half moon or a semi circle. Now seal the edges by twisting the edges with your hand so that the filling do not come out.
Alternatively you can use a fork to seal the edges. Use the back of the fork and gently press the edges to seal them.
If you have the kajjikayalu preparation wooden mould,  it will be a good alternative to the above two steps.
                                                             
You can see the above picture to know how to seal the edges.
Make all the kajjikayalu in the same manner and set aside. Close them with another plate or paper so that the outer layer don’t dry out.
Heat oil in a large pan and fry a batch of 3-4 kajjikayalu. Fry them on a medium flame till golden brown.
These can be stored for up to  15 days.