Khasta Goja or flaky Bengali sweets where layers of pastry dough are cut into small pieces and deep-fried till beautifully golden brown before dipping in syrup. This goja misti is often made on special occasions and festivals for its long shelf life and quite easy procedure. All you need is some flour, shortening like ghee and oil to fry before dipping them in simple sugar syrup.
This Bengali goja recipe is a simplified way of making goja misti at home by novice cooks like me and you. Bengali goja misti has an amazing shelf life, hence you can always make a big batch and keep some handy for an easy snack later. Here, I will tell you in step-by-step detail how to get the flakiest or khasta goja in an easy way. However, if you are in a hurry and do not require the detailed tips & tricks of this Mishti Goja recipe, click “Jump to Recipe” button above and get to the recipe card instantaneously.
Flaky & Crunchy Bengali Khasta Goja
The world of Bengali sweets is dominated by chenna or fresh cottage cheese based sweetdishes. Almost all of them use milk-based products like chena or cottage cheese, or khowa or milk solids in some or the other way. Goja brings a delightful variation to it. Hence, making it a vegan sweet recipe if you replace ghee with plant based fat or refined oil.
Almost every festival warrants making of simple homemade sweets recipes, and this goja recipe is particularly popular among Bengalis for their set of festivals and celebrations. It is a pretty basic recipe where tight dough is kneaded using flour, shortening and a splash of water before folding it a couple of times to create those beautiful layers. Next, all you have to do is roll and cut it into smaller pieces before deep frying and soaking in sugar syrup.
This Bengali khasta goja recipe is quite straightforward if you keep a couple of pointers in mind. For your ease, I am listing them out for a better understanding.
How to get the perfectly flaky khasta Goja sweet at home?
- First thing first, get the dough right. My thumbrule is, for every cup of flour, add two tablespoons of shortening. This will gove you the perfectly flaky texture. Rub the shortening well in the flour and break the lumps. Now, to bring the dough together, add splashes of water. Preferably cold water. Once you get the dough together roughly, do not add any more water and simply gather the bits and pieces of flour and dough into a big lump
- Create layers. Once you get a big lump of dough, even if its uneven and not at all smooth, now is the time to start building layers. Roll it on a surface into a rough circle and divide it into four quarters. Place them on top of each other and roll again. Repeat this process at least 3-4 times to get beautiful layers
- Choice of Shortening. Ideally, ghee is the best option. However, you can use vegetable shortening as well as refined neutral oil such as sunflower oil, rice bran oil, canola oil, etc.
- Gentle frying on low flame. Since we have created these many layers, we need to cook it all the way through or we will get doughy and raw goja instead of flaky and crunchy ones. So, simple warm your oil and drop the cut cubes of the misti goja dough to fry them on a slow heat. As they cook, they will expand a bit and rise & float on the oil. Turn them to get them an even golden brown colour
- Thick sugar syrup to coak and not soak. Prepare a thick sugar syrup of two-string consistency and keep it warm. Once the goja has been fried take them out of the oil and keep them aside to let them cool off a bit. Once they are just warm, drop them in the warm syrup and let them sit in it for just a couple of minutes before taking them out. You can serve them immediately or let them dry and harden to get a beautiful crunchy shell
How to make Khasta Goja – Ingredients list
- All-purpose Flour or Maida
- Shortening such as Ghee, Vegetable shortening (vanaspati), or Refined Oil
- A pinch of Salt
- A pinch of Baking Soda
- Refined Oil to fry
- Sugar & Water to make syrup
- Green Cardamom for flavour
- Lemon Juice
Step-by-step instructions on how to make Bengali Goja recipe quite effortlessly at home
- Mix the flour, baking soda and shortening together till there are no lumps in it. Here, I have used vanaspati ghee or plant based shortening for a flakier texture. Now add some water and bring it together in a big lump of dough. We are not looking for a smooth dough, just a rough one. Once you get that,do not add anymore water
- Turn the dough on your kitchen surface and roll it into a disc. Divide it into four quarters and place them on top of each other. Now roll it again while bringing the edges together into a disc. Repeat the step 2-3 times so that you get beautiful layers
- Finally roll it into a circle and cut it into smaller pieces of your desire. I cut them into 1 inch x 2 inches. Keep it aside
- Now, for frying, heat some oil on low heat. Drop a couple of pieces of dough in it and let it cook on a very low flame. This is a slow process and we do not want to hurry up the frying or they will remian uncooked at the centre
- Meanwhile prepare the chashni or sugar syrup by adding the sugar and water in a saucepan and bringing it to a boil. Add the crushed green cardamom pods in this
- Add a couple of drops of lemon juice to the syrup so that it doesn’t crystalize. Once you get the single string consistency of the syrup, turn off the heat
- Once the goja has fried nicely into a golden brown hue, take them out and keep them aside too cool down a bit. Then drop them in warm syrup and let them soak for a few minutes before taking them out
- Serve them hot or let them cool & dry out completely. Then you can store them for a week to ten days in an airtight container
List of popular Bengali Sweets Recipes for you to try!
- Instant Malpoa recipe
- Khaja or Chiroti
- Chanar Jilipi or Paneer Jalebi
- Chitrakut
- Nikuti
- Pranhara Sandesh
- Ice Cream Sandesh | Bhapa Sandesh Recipe
Here’s a quick list of some of the most popular Indian sweets recipes from my Blog
- Gulab Jamun Recipe using Khoya
- Instant Gulab Jamun recipe using Milk Powder
- Rasbhari | Mini Gulab Jamun [Video Recipe]
- Instant Kalakand recipe using Condensed Milk
- Gajar ka Halwa recipe without using Khoya
- Instant Gajar ka Halwa recipe
- Atta ka Halwa recipe
- Kesar Peda
- Sweet Boondi
- Elaichi Peda
- Besan Ladoo Recipe
- Kesar Motichoor Ladoo
- Atta Ladoo Recipe with Makhanas & Dry Fruits
- Balushahi or Badusha
Have you tried this recipe? I would love to hear about it.
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Khasta Goja or flaky Bengali sweets where layers of pastry dough are cut into small pieces and deep-fried till beautifully golden brown before dipping in syrup. This goja misti is often made on special occasions and festivals for its long shelf life and quite easy procedure. All you need is some flour, shortening like ghee and oil to fry before dipping them in simple sugar syrup.
- 1 cup All-purpose Flour or Maida
- 2 tbsp Shortening such as Ghee Vegetable shortening (vanaspati), or Refined Oil
- A pinch of Salt
- A pinch of Baking Soda
- Refined Oil to fry
- Sugar & Water to make syrup 1 cup Sugar and ½ cup Water
- Green Cardamom for flavour
- Lemon Juice
-
Mix the flour, salt, baking soda and shortening together till there are no lumps in it. Here, I have used vanaspati ghee or plant based shortening for a flakier texture. Now add some water and bring it together in a big lump of dough. We are not looking for a smooth dough, just a rough one. Once you get that,do not add anymore water
-
Turn the dough on your kitchen surface and roll it into a disc. Divide it into four quarters and place them on top of each other. Now roll it again while bringing the edges together into a disc. Repeat the step 2-3 times so that you get beautiful layers
-
Finally roll it into a circle and cut it into smaller pieces of your desire. I cut them into 1 inch x 2 inches. Keep it aside
-
Now, for frying, heat some oil on low heat. Drop a couple of pieces of dough in it and let it cook on a very low flame. This is a slow process and we do not want to hurry up the frying or they will remian uncooked at the centre
-
Meanwhile prepare the chashni or sugar syrup by adding the sugar and water in a saucepan and bringing it to a boil. Add the crushed green cardamom pods in this
-
Add a couple of drops of lemon juice to the syrup so that it doesn’t crystalize. Once you get the single string consistency of the syrup, turn off the heat
-
Once the goja has fried nicely into a golden brown hue, take them out and keep them aside too cool down a bit. Then drop them in warm syrup and let them soak for a few minutes before taking them out
-
Serve them hot or let them cool & dry out completely. Then you can store them for a week to ten days in an airtight container
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