Holi’s Gujhiya was made hundreds of years ago in Bundelkhand or came from across the seven seas.

The joy of the festival of colors, Holi, has engulfed all of us. There was a lot of colour. After this, when everyone goes to meet each other at each other’s house, Gujhiya is definitely served, which is the most essential and symbolic sweet dish of Holi, which sweetens the mouth. At the time of Holi, Gujhiya becomes the national dish of the country. It is addressed by Gujiya, Gujhiya and many other names. If Gujhiya is not made at home during Holi, then the tradition of the festival is not complete. Any party or any feast on Holi is incomplete without it. Delicious taste of dry fruits mixed with roasted khoya inside a crescent shaped wrapper of flour.

Have you ever wondered when and how the first Gujiya was made? This is a pure Indian dish, which has been Holized. A dish that complements the colors of Holi. Is it not so that like most of the dishes that came to India, this too came here from abroad and then got colored here.

Layer of flour outside, stuffing of dry fruits and nuts inside.
If Gujiya has a layer of flour on the outside, then inside it is a perfect confluence of khoya made from milk, coconut shavings and various types of dry fruits. In homes, first they chop khoya, coconut and dry fruits, mix them and then put them in a pan and fry them lightly. In this way the mixture inside the Gujiya is ready.

Knead the flour and roll into small balls and cut them into round shapes. Then the sweet mixture is filled inside it and given the shape of the moulds. Now it will be fried and it is ready to fill the mouth with its fragrant, delicious sweetness. This is Gujiya but its glory is limitless.

Now in different forms like Gujiya
By the way, let us tell you that earlier Gujiya was filled with only mawa filling, but now stuffing is being done with many things like semolina, gram flour, dry fruits, moong dal which makes its taste different. Sometimes green gram, dry fruits or other food items like fig or date gujiya are also made along with mawa. Somewhere now, health conscious people have started taking the feeling of dry fruits only in it. Overall, it can be said that Gujiya has also taken different forms.

different names in every state
It is called Kusli in Chhattisgarh state, Karanji in Maharashtra, Pidki in Bihar, Ghugra in Gujarat, Karigadubu in Karnataka, Somasi in Tamil Nadu and Kajjikayalu in Andhra Pradesh. There is a tradition of making Gujhiya at home on the occasion of Holi in North India and Diwali in South India.

Where did Gujiya come from?
Nandita Iyer has written about where Gujiya came from and became popular on the tongue in her book The Great Indian Thali. This book was published last September 2022. Although we Indians have been eating Gujiya for hundreds of years, we know very little about its history. This is not usually found in books. There was very little mention of it even in the scriptures and texts.

Originated in Bundelkhand
There is a reference to it from the 13th century, which mentions a Gujiya-like dish made by heating a mixture of honey and jaggery and then coating it with flour. Another reference says that the original origin of Gujiya was in Bundelkhar area in UP i.e. Uttar Pradesh, its time period is said to be sometime between 16-17 century.

Muslim traders also brought from Türkiye
It is also said that a dish like Gujiya was brought by Muslim traders in the 13-14th century. Baklava, an ancient Turkish dish, is exactly similar to this. Even today, the Baklava dishes available in many varieties are made with flour and khoya or dry fruits. During that period, Muslim traders and Mughals who came to India from Arab countries brought many types of dishes to India. Then these dishes got Indianized. The Mughal Empire further refined Gujiya in its royal kitchens in the 15-16th century.

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Tags: Holi, Holi celebration, Holi festival, Sweet Dishes