Kesar Khaja is an Indian-style layered pastry soaked in Saffron Sugar Syrup. This crispy and flaky, scrumptious Indian sweet is prepared with plain flour and ghee , splendid aromatic saffron sugar syrup and garnished with gold and silver edible leaf.
What is Saffron use for?
Saffron , in Hindi is known as Kesar and in Urdu it’s Zafran. It is my most beloved spice, and I use it freely in my cooking whenever I get a chance to use it.
As much as I love saffron in my desserts, I love it in savoury dishes too.
Either it’s my Saffron and Asparagus Pasta , Vegan Carrot Soup with Saffron Vinaigrette or Mande Roti .
Saffron makes it way through almost every of my Indian sweets (Mithai), out of many I love Kesar Malai Peda and Vegan Kesar Badam katli .
Because I am so obsessed with saffron, a few of my baking goodies are made with saffron too – Saffron Buns
Since this recipe was on to do my list for a long time, I grabbed an opportunity to make at home, but with Saffron. Usually, Khaja is made without saffron or any kind of nuts.
This recipe turned out exceptionally well and the saffron flavours made it tastier and richer in taste and look.
What is Khaja?
Khaja is a traditional and old age sweet dish of India and usually prepared during festival times such as Diwali, Holi or during a month of Ramadan and also offering as Prasad in many temples.
It is a layered deep-fried pastry that is prepared with very basic ingredients like plain flour and ghee then dipped in sugar syrup.
Although Khaja is prepared all over India, every region has their own version of it and method of making various town to town and called with different names.
Such as Chirote Khaja in Maharashtra (In Gujarat you can find round shape Chirote Khaja) wherein South India you can find Madatha Khaja which are diamond shape.
In Gujarat on the festival of Naag Panchami ( which comes around in August), it’s a custom to eat Khaja.
What goes in Kesar Khaja?
How to store Khaja?
To keep fresh and crispy allow khaja to be cooled down completely before storing them in an airtight container.
Do not store Khaja in the refrigerator.
Tips : add ghee to plain flour before knead the dough to make khaja crispy and flaky. Deep fry khaja on low to medium heat in small batches. Make sugar syrup one thread consistancy and make sure it is warm when khaja are added.
How to make Kesar Khaja step by step pictures.
Recipe card below with proper measurements and both methods.
#Method 2
- Knead the dough using plain flour, ghee (leave some to make the paste) salt and saffron, leave it aside for half an hour.
2 . Divide the dough into 5 equal parts and make balls.
Make a paste by mixing rice flour and ghee.
Roll out each ball into a very thin circle using a rolling pin.
Apply paste with the pastry brush on the first rolled circle, then place another sheet on top of the first circle, apply paste again. Repeat this method until you have placed five sheets on top of each other and pasted with the rice flour + ghee paste.
Gently roll the pastry into a tight log and cut it with a sharp knife.
7 . Very lightly press the cut pieces with your finger.
- Heat oil or ghee and fry on a low heat until light brown.
9 . Make sugar syrup by mixing sugar and water, make one thread chasni.
10 . Add fried khaja into the chasni, leave it for a couple of minutes to soak, remove and garnish it with vark or nuts if you like.
Leftover chasni, don’t know what to do with it?
Check out my Kala Jamun post, see the section Kala Gulab Jamun Sugar Syrup.
More Traditional Indian Sweets Recipes
- Shakkarpara 2. Meethi Khajali 3. Gujarati Churma Ladoo
KESAR KHAJA
ingredients:
2 cup plain flour -Maida + some for dusting
Big Pinch Mahbir saffron -Kesar
Pinch salt – namak
4 Tbsp. clarified butter -ghee
Oil to deep fry – Tel
Cornflour – safed wala
1 1/4 cup sugar (one and a half cup)
1 cup of water
Big Pinch Mahabir saffron -Kesar
Pinch cardamom powder – Elachi powder
1 Tbsp ghee
1 Tbsp rice flour
instructions:
How to cook KESAR KHAJA
In a big bowl add plain flour, ghee, salt and half of the saffron.
Mix everything well and prepare a pliable dough. ( Not too soft or hard )
Cover the dough with a clean wet kitchen towel for half an hour.
Once again knead the dough for 2-3 minutes and divide the dough into two equal parts.
Dust the flour on the work surface and roll the dough very very thin either round or square shape. ( I rolled into a square )
Sprinkle cornflour all over it.
Now start rolling it like a tight log, keep sprinkling a little cornflour in between.
Then cut it into 1/2″ pieces.
Very lightly press the khaja pieces with your thumb or index finger.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a kadai.
Keep the heat very low.
Fry the prepared khaja until golden brown and crispy but cooked inside too.
Once again knead the dough for 2-3 minutes and divide the dough into 5 equal parts and make balls.
Mix ghee and rice flour and make a paste.
Roll each ball into a very thin round sheet.
Place one rolled chapati on the surface, brush a tiny amount of paste then place another sheet and again brush the ghee-flour paste.
Repeat the process with the rest of the sheets.
Then gently roll the sheets together into a tight log and cut it into 1/2″ pieces.
Then follow the same procedure as above.
Once all the khaja are fried, make sugar syrup.
Place all the sugar syrup ingredients in a pan and let the sugar dissolve.
Once sugar dissolved bring the syrup to boiling point then simmer until the syrup reaches one thread consistency.
Then add fried khaja into the hot sugar syrup and let the syrup coat both the sides of khaja.
Keep the khaja about 2-3 minutes in the syrup then remove it, stick some edible silver and gold leaf (if using) and let the syrup dry.
Once the khaja are totally dried store in an airtight container.
NOTES:
Did you make this recipe?
Easy, Asparagus and Peanut Rice, perfect spring dish that is loaded with fresh and tender seasonal vegetables, peanuts and packed with flavours! A healthy, satisfying vegan or plant-based dish can be served at lunch or for mid-week dinner.
We adore asparagus, they are a sure sign of spring and as soon as they appear in the market they also appear in my kitchen too. These tender spears are so easy to use in any recipe, steam, bake , BBQ or just stir fry and enjoy with dressings and sauces. Past couple of years, we started using them in the salad as well. Full of vitamins and antioxidants they are a nutritional powerhouse.
More Rice Recipes- Coconut, Pineapple Thai Fried Rice | Coconut & Almond Rice | Green Peas & Mint Rice
So while I was chopping the vegetables, my eyes were scanning my kitchen cupboards for spices or spice blends. I didn’t want to make this rice too strong in flavours, so I layed my hands on Sambhar Masala Powder, along with Sambhar masala, I also picked up some curry leaves and peanuts to add a crunch to the dish.
As the vegetables were being cooked I started to imagine just how it will turn out as just the aroma was good enough to make my tummy rumble.
The result? Perfect Savoury Rice! Healthy Satisfying Flavourful Subtly spices Packed with vegetables and also Nutty too
I think you too should totally get on board because it is an easy, fuss-free and super delicious asparagus recipe for your family that can be paired well with any type of roasted tomato raita or mango kadhi .
Asparagus and Peanut Rice
ingredients:
- 250g cooked rice – I used sella basmati rice
- 1 cup raw asparagus cut into 1″ pieces
- 4 tbsp. raw peanuts
- 1 bunch spring onion finely chopped
- 1 green capsicum chopped
- 1 tsp. crushed green chilli and ginger
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 tbsp. sambhar masala powder or curry powder (link above)
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp.Oil
- 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
- Pinch asafoetida hing
instructions:
How to cook Asparagus and Peanut Rice
- Heat oil in a non-stick pan or kadai.
- Add cumin seeds, once it splutters add hing and add peanuts.
- Fry the peanuts for 3-4 minutes on low heat.
- Now add asparagus and cook only for a minute.
- Then add spring onion and capsicum along with curry leaves.
- Add sambhar powder and cook the masala for a few seconds.
- Add cooked rice, and salt mix gently.
- Let the rice heat nicely.
- Serve with any kind of raita.
- Enjoy!
