Rose Coconut Karanji is a crispy pastry filled with sweet and delicate rose-flavored coconut filling that simply melts in your mouth.
It is Diwali this week and if I can share one traditional recipe with you, it would hands down be this rose coconut Karanji. A modern twist to the traditional karanji or gujiya, this divine treat has aromatic filling bundled around crispy layered pastry. Happy Diwali everyone!
Diwali
The festival of lights, Diwali is India's biggest and most important holiday of the year, celebrated over 5 days. It is my favorite Indian festival with many fond memories of it growing up. My mom would start her preparations a month in advance.
House is decorated with lanterns and pretty clay diyas. Fresh yellow and orange marigold garlands and mango leaves hung on the doors and gorgeous rangolis made in front of the house. And the best part? A festive home filled with family, friends, and the amazing aromas of the delicious sweets and savories made by mom.
One traditional dish made in most Maharashtrian homes is the Karanji, a fried pastry with sweet coconut filling. One year my mom decided to change her recipe. She now made it with a new fragrant filling, which we LOVED so much it instantly replaced her old recipe and became a new tradition for every Diwali since.
Given this is my first Diwali recipe post, I wanted to share this rose coconut karanji recipe is beautiful, aromatic, and flavorful. An interesting part of this recipe is it uses food colors homemade from roasted beetroot juice and saffron strands instead of artificial food coloring.
The filling itself is quite easy and can be made in under 5 minutes. Simply mix fine coconut powder, powdered sugar, gulkand, and rose essence. Another amazing recipe with the yummy gulkand{rose petal preserve} that I also love to add in the seviyan kheer.
Since the filling is so effortless, sometimes I make the outer pastry covering a bit fancy by adding flaky layers. This is completely optional as single-layered outer covering tastes equally good too. So if you are short on time you can skip the layering process.
Process
Step by step process to make layered rose coconut karanji:
The first step is to prepare the dough. Note: Layering is completely optional. When short on time, I make them without layering. I simply roll the dough, fill and fry for delicious karanji's.
Here are the steps for flaky layered karanji:
- Divide the dough into 3 parts. Add a teaspoon of roasted beetroot juice (or few drops of red coloring) to one part and knead well for 5 minutes.
- Soak saffron in a teaspoon of warm milk and add it to the second part. Knead well for 5 minutes.
- Knead the remaining white dough for 2-3 minutes.
- Roll each dough ball into a 12-inch circle.
- Mix melted ghee and rice flour to form smooth rice paste and keep aside.
- Start with the white rolled circle, apply a thin layer of rice paste.
- Put the pink circle on top of the white and apply a thin layer of rice paste on it.
- Lastly, layer the yellow circle and apply the remaining rice paste to it.
- Roll the three layers tightly to form a long roll.
- Cut the roll in the middle and then cut each part into ¼th inch discs.
- For each disc, press the outer white edge forward so the outermost layer is on the top/front. With the layers overlapping each other and the disc forming an oval shape. This step is very important as it keeps the layers together while rolling. Do not flatten the disk at its center by pressing on the top as the layers may start opening as you roll them.
- Roll each disc into a 3-inch circle.
- Put the sweet filling in the center.
- Apply, little milk on the edges using your finger. Then, fold the circle over to form a semi-circle with the edges sealing the filling inside. I prefer picking up the disc in my hand than, adding the filling and sealing. Although, it can also be done on a board.
- Once the karanji is sealed firmly, using a fork press the edges to form a pretty pattern or the edges can also be folded into tiny pleats.
- Continue to roll, fill, and seal rest of the discs.
- After, all the karanjis are ready. Add, oil into a frying pan on medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add 2-3 karanjis. Lower the heat to medium-low and fry for 4-5 minutes turning once halfway through. If, they start to brown sooner, lower the heat further.
Allow a complete cooldown. Enjoy the delicious rose coconut karanji with your family and friend and store in an airtight container.
Did you enjoy these yummy Karanji? Here are a few more of my favorite authentic Diwali faral recipes:
- Rava Ladoo - with fresh coconut, cardamom & nuts
- Besan Ladoo - melt in your mouth ladoo with gram flour
- Mom’s special Saranachi Puri AKA Sanjori or Satori, these sweet puri’s stuffed with delicious coconut and jaggery filling laced with cardamom and nutmeg
- Shankarpali - Also known as Shakarpara, these bite-sized treats are perfectly sweetened and loved by all
- Chakli - Savory crunchy spirals made with multigrain flour with a touch of spice
- Palak Sev - Made with spinach these garlicky crunchy noodles are fun to make and eat
Want to know more about Diwali and how it is celebrated in my family? Check out this post I wrote on How I celebrate the 5 days of Diwali, my Rituals, and Traditions!!
Wondering how to plan an Indian-themed Party Menu?
Here is an EASY vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian menu idea:
Indian Vegetarian Party Menu
- Palak Paneer – paneer in spinach sauce
- Daal Makhani – creamed black lentils and red kidney beans
- Whole wheat Parathas – homemade parathas or store-bought Naan
- Veg Biriyani – quick and easy Instant Pot recipe
- Pineapple Sheera – fresh pineapple cooked in creamy semolina
- Beet root raita – a cooling yogurt side dish to compliment the spices
Indian Non Vegetarian Party Menu
- Butter Chicken – a healthier version of restaurant favorite chicken curry
- Malabar Shrimp – spicy South Indian style shrimp curry
- Parathas – plain parathas go really well with Indian food or store-bought Naan
- Chicken Biryani – my most popular Instant Pot recipe
- Carrot Halwa – Easy to make and loved by all ‘gajar ka halwa’
- Spicy Cabbage Salad - Crunchy colorful cabbage salad that is healthy, tasty, and super easy to make.
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Rose Coconut Karanji {crispy pastry with sweet rose flavoured coconut filling}
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 cups dry unsweetened coconut
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon gulkand/rose preserve
- 1 teaspoon rose essence
Outside Cover
- 1½ cups fine rava/semolina
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- oil for frying
Layering
- 2 tablespoons rice flour
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
Optional Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon beet juice grate a small piece of beet and squeeze out the juice
- 1 pinch saffron
- 1 teaspoon milk warm
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients for the filling. Rub filling on the palm of the hands for a couple of minutes so that the rose preserve is mixed evenly.
- Mix semolina and all-purpose flour. Heat ghee and add to the flour. Warm up the milk. Add ½ cup of milk to the flour and start kneading dough. Add a little bit of milk as required to form a firm dough. Usually, ¾ cup of milk should suffice. But depending on the rava, you may need more or less to make a firm dough. Keep aside for 20 mins.
- Divide the dough into 3 equal parts**. Add beet juice (or few drops of red coloring) to one part and knead well for 5 mins. Soak saffron in warm milk and add to the second part. Knead well for 5 mins. Knead the remaining white dough for a few minutes.
- Roll each dough ball into a 12-inch circle. Mix melted ghee and rice flour to form smooth rice paste and keep aside. Start with the white rolled circle, apply a thin layer of rice paste. Put the pink circle on top of the white and apply a thin layer of rice paste on it. Lastly, layer the yellow circle and apply the remaining rice paste to it. Roll the three layers tightly to form a long roll.
- Cut the roll into 20-24 discs. For each disc, press the outer white edge forward so that the outermost layer is on the top/front with the layers overlapping each other and the disc forming an oval shape. This step is very important as it keeps the layers together while rolling. Do not flatten the disk at its center by pressing on the top as the layers may start opening as you roll them.
- Roll each disc into a 3-inch circle. Put the sweet filling in the center. Apply little milk on the edges using your finger and then fold the circle over to form a semi-circle with the edges sealing the filling inside. I prefer picking up the disc in my hand and then adding the filling and sealing but it can also be done on a board.
- Once the karanji is sealed firmly, using a fork press the ends to form a nice pattern or the edges can also be folded into small pleats. Continue to roll and fill the rest of the discs.
- After all the karanjis are ready, add oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat for 2-3 mins. Once the oil is hot, add 2-3 karanjis, lower the heat to medium-low and fry for 4-5 minutes turning once halfway through. If they start to brown sooner, lower the heat further. Let them cool down completely. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
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Green Delhi says
They look so beautiful and tasty!
Archana says
Thank you!
Ayushi says
Tried this and it turned out wonderful. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Nita says
Hi. Can I use this recipe for the outside claky pastry and fry them in an airfryer?
Archana says
Yes! You can add it as a filling for flaky pastry.