Published: December 3, 2017 Last Modified: December 11, 2020 Freda Dias

Neureos | Karanji Recipe | How To Make Karanji

Step-by-step recipe with pictures to make Neureos | Nevri | Karanji (Flaky pastry stuffed with sweet coconut filling).

Goan Neureos are deep-fried, flaky pastry stuffed with coconut & dried fruit filling. They are also known as Karanji in Maharashtra, sweet Somas in Tamil Nadu, Gujiya or Ghughra in North India. Somas usually also include gram dal, and Gujiyas have mava (milk solids) in the stuffing.

Other than tiny variations from region to region in India, they are almost the same. These are made for festivals like Holi, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali & Christmas. The crescent shape is redolent of an empanada. You can pretty much say these are an Indian version of empanadas.

December is officially here! Just a few days more and we will bid adieu to 2017. December also happens to be my favorite month, and I’m sure is with most of you too. Apart from the aura that surrounds the month of December who else is a fan of all the sweets & food?

Indian Christmas sweets are totally different from the one I see here in the US. Here its more of cookies, cakes etc, but back home we have a number of sweets that are dainty, time-consuming and some that actually require the combined efforts of a small community. Not kidding!

Like these Neureos | Nevri | Karanji! These are actually a multi-person task. As you really can’t make endless containers of these goodies all by yourself. Of course, if you are adventurous enough, you could take up the challenge !!

I have vivid memories of watching these made. One person would be assigned to make the pastry dough, one made the filling, one did the job of rolling out the dough, one did the stuffing, and shaping and one did all the frying. A team effort !!

I’m so glad that one of the most important sweets of Goan Kuswar (Goan Christmas sweet platter) finally made it to the blog! I actually made these earlier this year, during my Mum in law’s stay.

I wanted to learn it first hand rather than instructions over the phone. Neureos/karanji was my least liked Christmas sweet. We never made it at home, rather always got some made to order. As I said, these require a heck of a time, and my parents had a tough work schedule.

But once I happened to taste these at my In-law’s place, and I was hooked. I didn’t find it surprising when my DH said that they there were a big fan of these treats and that it would hardly last the Holiday season.

In fact, my Mum in law always made extra to make sure everyone at home had more than enough to their heart’s content. These Neureos are truly addictive and hard to resist. The filling taste so amazing, that you may end up eating spoonfuls of the filling itself before you even begin the process of stuffing the pastry.

Other sweets that often make an appearance in Goan Kuswar are Rich Christmas fruit cake, kulkul, shankarpali, kormolas, jujubes, bebinca, dodol, marzipan, guava cheese, milk cream etc to name a few!

If this is your maiden attempt at making these, I hope this post will help you 🙂 Sharing with you all the tips & tricks to get these babies right!

Table of Contents

YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY THESE TRADITIONAL GOAN CHRISTMAS SWEET RECIPES

How to make Neureos/Nevri – Step by step process

For the stuffing

1.Heat a heavy bottomed skillet / non-stick skillet over medium heat, dry roast semolina until crisp and fragrant. Set aside.

2.In the same skillet, add ghee, once hot enough, add charoli, sauté for 30 seconds or until it turns slightly darker.

3.Next, add poppy seeds, sauté another minute.

4.Add the desiccated coconut, roast until it turns golden brown.

5.Add the roasted semolina, mix everything well, transfer to another bowl and let the mixture cool completely.

6.Once the mixture has cooled, add powdered sugar, raisins and cardamom powder, mix well. The stuffing for the karanji is ready.

For the pastry shell

1.Combine flour, ghee, and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix the ghee with the flour.

2.Add water little at a time, knead to form a smooth and firm dough. The dough should not be too soft nor too hard. Cover with a damp napkin and set aside for an hour.

Making the neureos

1.Transfer the dough to the work surface, divide it into equal portions (about walnut-sized portions, around 15).

2.Take one portion, dust it in flour, roll it out very thin, to a diameter of about 4 inches. Dust flour, as needed whilst rolling. Roll out the rest in the same manner.

3.Transfer the rolled dough to the mold, fill a tablespoon of the filling (do not overstuff), apply water all around the edge, close the mold tightly, open it, trim the edges and unmold the neureo. Cover the neureos with a clean, damp kitchen napkin while you prepare the remaining in the same way.

Collect all the scraps, form a dough, divide and roll out more dough to make more neureos (we got 6 extra from the scraps). Dust off excess flour before stuffing them.

4.If you do not have a mold, you can do it the traditional way. Place a tablespoon of the stuffing in the center of the rolled dough, apply water all around the edges, bring one edge, and join the other to form a half-moon shape. Seal with a fork or keep pinching to form a pleated pattern.

5.Heat oil in a kadai, deep fry the prepared neureos on medium heat, in batches, flipping in between, until golden. They will continue to cook once you remove them out, so don’t overcook them. Keep the rest of the prepared neureos covered with a damp kitchen napkin, to prevent the dough from drying out.

6.Transfer to a tray lined with an absorbent kitchen napkin to drain off excess oil.

7.Once cool completely they crisp up. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

NOTE

1.This recipe can easily be multiplied for more yield.

★ Did you enjoy these delicious Goan Neureos? If you happen to try it out, I would love to hear from you! I’d appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review below in the comments. Your reviews help others know the recipe better too. Thanks so much 🙂

You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter