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    Home » Dessert Recipes

    Sojjappalu | Vinayaka Chavithi Special | Andhra Special Recipe

    Published: Sep 14, 2015 · Modified: Sep 12, 2021 by Ramya · 25 Comments

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    As we have Vinayaka Chavithi/Ganesh Chathurdhi/Pillayar Chathurdhi coming up this Thursday, I am planning on posting some specialties that are prepared for this festival. Vinayaka Chavithi is one of my most favorite festivals of the year and Ganesha is such a cute God 🙂 I amazed by the number of forms he takes year on year (this year I saw a Ganesha taking selfie with his parents 😛 ) and Ganesha is the only God I have adapted in many art forms and I absolutely love creating Ganesha paintings 🙂 The one below is from five-six years ago, but one of my favorites.

    CHCooksGanesha

    Moving on to the recipe, it is one of the specialties from Andhra – a sweet dish prepared for any special occasions or festivals. I originally thought of posting this for Varalakshmi Vratham but it didn’t happen 🙂 nevertheless, here I am with this sweet post at the start of the week. This is one of the favorites of my husband and he had been after me to make it for him. As always I gave in and indulged him. I think this is the only deep fried dessert that I love so much that I don’t mind the calories at all. Basically, Sojjappalu/Sojjappam is kind of poori stuffed with rava kesari. It’s not very difficult to make, once you nail the outer dough preparation. The all-purpose flour has to be kneaded to perfection and should rest for atleast 30mins to 1 hour so that it’s really elastic. This also makes the Sojjappams very crispy and super tasty.

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    The stuffing inside the poori is essentially the very popular south Indian dessert Rava Kesari. I do not like adding artificial colors and hence stuck on to the plain white color and the pooris, on deep frying would turn golden brown – looking perfect and beautiful. The outer dough has to be very elastic and should completely cover the stuffing. On a plastic cover, after applying a few drops of oil, the dough is hand pressed to a thin circle and a ball of filling is kept. Once the dough covers the filling, its again hand pressed to form a circle and deep fried until golden brown. It stays good for a day although can turn a bit chewy when cooled down – still tastes good 🙂 Trust me, these never last that long 🙂

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    To make Sojjappalu

    • Servings: Makes 12
    • Time: 30 mins prep time + 20 mins cook time
    • Difficulty: Medium
    • Print

    What I used –
    • Sooji/Rava, ⅓rd cup
    • Sugar, ⅔rd cup (twice as Sooji)
    • Water, 1 cup + additional for making Dough
    • Ghee/Clarified Butter, 1 tsp
    • Green Cardamom Powder, ½ tsp
    • All Purpose Flour/Maida, 1 cup
    • Salt, a generous pinch
    • Oil, for deep frying + 1.5 tbsp

    3

    How I made –
    1. Start by preparing the outer dough. Take the all-purpose flour in a bowl. Add salt and mix water little by little until a firm dough is formed. Knead it really well and it should form into a big ball. Add 2 teaspoon of oil and knead well. Let it rest for atleast 30mins.prep1
    2. In a pan, add the Sooji/Rava and dry roast until nice aroma comes up. Reduce the flame to low and add 1 cup of water. Cook it covered until the water is absorbed and the sooji looks cooked.prep2
    3. Add sugar and mix well. The rava turns watery again. Add a teaspoon of ghee/clarified butter and powdered green cardamom. Mix well. Keep cooking on low flame until the Rava Kesari solidifies. Remove it from heat.prep3
    4. Once cooled down, make lemon sized balls out of the Rava Kesari.prep4
    5. Similarly, divide the dough into equal lemon sized balls. Apply few drops of oil to your palm and apply few drops of oil on a plastic cover. Take a ball of dough and press it with your fingers to form a thin circle. Place a ball of the filling in the center and close it with the dough from all sides. Gently press it into a roundel again.prep5
    6. Meanwhile, heat oil in a kadai for deep frying. Once hot, reduce the flame to medium. Drop each of the prepared Sojjappam gently into the oil and deep fry until golden brown. Remove it on to a tissue paper and repeat the same with the rest of the Sojjappams.
    7. Offer as neivedhyam for Ganesh Chathurdhi and Serve hot as a dessert  🙂

    5

    Note –
    • Resting time for the outer dough is really essential to get the required elasticity.
    • Adding a pinch of salt brings out the sweetness of this sweet.
    • The dough should be oily to work with and apply few drops of oil every now and then to work easily with the Sojjappams.
    • When hand pressing the Sojjappams, ensure that the filling is being spread all over the circle made and not to a side.
    • When pressing the Sojjappams, be very gentle or else the filling can come out. Ideally the outer layer should be very thin and the stuffing should be thick and evenly spread inside.

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    1. Aruna Panangipally

      September 14, 2015 at 3:51 pm

      Great minds think alike! This is my next post. Made for Varalakshmi 😀

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        September 14, 2015 at 5:46 pm

        Same here! 😀 Looking forward to your recipe 🙂

        Reply
    2. Lynz Real Cooking

      September 14, 2015 at 5:49 pm

      Wow this looks very special and delicious!

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        September 14, 2015 at 10:29 pm

        Thanks a lot Lynz 🙂

        Reply
        • Lynz Real Cooking

          September 14, 2015 at 10:36 pm

          very nice! thanks for sharing this with us!

          Reply
          • CHCooks

            September 15, 2015 at 7:00 am

            My pleasure 🙂

            Reply
    3. Traditionally Modern Food

      September 14, 2015 at 6:13 pm

      We call it sakkarai poli.. Ur pics r amazing ..dish came out very well

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        September 14, 2015 at 10:29 pm

        Oh never knew there was a Tamil version of this 🙂 Thanks Vidya 🙂

        Reply
    4. srividhya

      September 14, 2015 at 7:24 pm

      wow very nice.. Vinayaka chaturthi preps started ah?

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        September 14, 2015 at 10:30 pm

        Thanks Sri 🙂 Hehehe yes yes! For the blog - yes 😛

        Reply
      • CHCooks

        September 14, 2015 at 10:31 pm

        By the way, your posts are not showing up on my WP reader 🙁 I am missing commenting on them as I am reading them on email.. and have no time to open the website.. work's been crazy.. will get to your blog soon 🙂

        Reply
        • srividhya

          September 14, 2015 at 10:42 pm

          Yeah GB. The InLinkz plugin is the culprit. If I deactivate that, it shows up in the reader. Once this month's blogging marathon is over I will deactivate it. So it will again show up on the reader. No worries. Take your time. Glad you are seeing them in the email.

          Reply
          • CHCooks

            September 15, 2015 at 6:59 am

            Oh ok ok 🙂 Sure waiting for the Vinayaka Chathurdhi holiday very badly - to catch up on all posts 🙂

            Reply
    5. Freda @ Aromatic essence

      September 15, 2015 at 1:10 am

      This looks very delicious ! You are so talented , love art too 🙂

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        September 15, 2015 at 6:57 am

        Thank you so much Freda 🙂

        Reply
    6. Freda @ Aromatic essence

      September 15, 2015 at 1:10 am

      Lovely* art

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        September 15, 2015 at 6:56 am

        Thanks Freda 🙂

        Reply
    7. Bharani

      September 15, 2015 at 5:44 am

      yum .... but there is slight variation in calling,we call sajjappa and the filling is totally different ... and will be making on Ganesh chatuthi :)and post soon

      and as always nice clicks also beautiful Ganesha painting 🙂

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        September 15, 2015 at 6:56 am

        I thought so Bharani 🙂 I have never tasted Sajjappa before but the name sounds familiar 🙂 Would love to see your recipe!

        Thanks a lot for your kind words 🙂

        Reply
    8. Chitra Jagadish

      September 16, 2015 at 1:48 am

      Oh this is my favorite. .. we call it as sajjappa...looks yummm...

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        September 16, 2015 at 3:22 pm

        Thank you Chitra 🙂 Yes I now know that there is a similar recipe from Karnataka too 🙂

        Reply

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