Olya Naralachya Karanjya | How to make Karanji with Fresh Coconut filling

Olya Naralachya Karanjya - A to Z Maharashtrian Sweets

We are on the 15th day of this Mega BM series and today is for O. Until I landed in this recipe, I didn't get anything else for this alphabet. I searched if there were vegetables or ingredients starting with this alphabet and nothing came up. As Amusrecipes was the first site that prompted me to get ahead with this series, I went back to check if there was anything I missed. And yes it was it and he called it Olya Naralachya Karanjya

He calls his Karanji as Olya naralachya karanjya which means fresh coconut karanji. I double checked with Pradnya on the name and she said Olya is wet, so fresh coconut is called ola naral and when used as adjective it becomes olya and hence I have a dish for my O.

Both fresh and dried coconut can be used in this sweet and working with coconut was good as I love fresh coconut. As I said before I had worked on my dishes and ensured I grouped similar dishes together for ease of cooking. The day I planned for this cooking, I had a huge fresh coconut grated and used it as required for all the dishes. 

Yes you guessed it right, even Chauri chi Karanji was made on the same day and same cutting method was used, though the dough ingredients and filling were different. It actually worked out best as you get your dishes done fast! So in this marathon I used lots of jaggery, and coconut, much like my own cuisine I am familar with. The other dishes that were done together were the Halim Ladoo and Ekadahi Farali Bhat. I was actually glad that these two didn't involve so much deep frying and the back breacking excerise I had with the Karanjis.

Just as the ladoos, end of the frying session, I was confused on which was what. So in that pretext I globbed up couple to know the stuffing. So I will share the secret with you..:)

Olya Naralachya Karanjya

Olya Naralachya Karanjya

Ingredients Needed:

For cover

All purpose flour / Maida - 1 cup

Ghee - 1/4 cup 

Milk - 1/4 cup

Water as needed

Oil for deep frying

For Saaran / Stuffing

Fresh Coconut grated - Approx. 1 cup

Sugar 1 1/2 cup 

Cardamom powder a pinch 

How to make the Karanji

For the Stuffing 

Take a non stick pan with the grated coconut and sugar.

Cook it on a low flame till the sugar is melted. 

Do not make it too dry. Cook only for 5 minutes.

Keep it aside for cooling. Add cardamom powder at the end. If you cook for too long, the mix will turn out hard.

For the outer Cover

Take the flour in a bowl. Heat 1/4 cup ghee in kadai and pour it over the flour. Add milk and knead the dough

If required, use small quantity of water to knead the dough. The dough should be stiff but well kneaded.

Set it aside for 1/2 an hour,Knead it again to make the dough soft.

How to make the Karanji

Since I used the cookie cutter, I made a huge dish and made mini karanjis in one shot. However you can pinch into small balls and make individual ones as well.

Smear the sides of the discs with little water, placea small amound of the stuffing in the center and cover the stuffing. Seal on the sides, ensure it is properly glued.

Repeat with the rest. As you make the rest, ensure it doesn't get dried up, so keep it covered.

Heat a kadai with oil and deep fry on medium heat till it turns golden brown.

Drain with a slotted spoon and store in an airtight box.

Notes

Amu says that one can add semolina or khava also in the filling. However, this recipe is the traditional recipe. Also much like our tradtions, they also make fried modal with the same filling along with the karanji.