Madatha Kaja Recipe – Khaja Sweet | Tapeswaram Madatha Kaja | Crispy Khaja Recipe Step by Step – Kaja is a delicious traditional sweet from the Telugu cuisine prepared with Maida (All Purpose Flour) & it has crispy layers soaked in sugar syrup.
Kaja is so much similar to chiroti or peni in preparation but looks different. It’s taste is almost close to Badusha but the look and texture is so different. The two well-known types of Kajas are Madatha Kaja and Gottam Kaja. Madatha Kajas are made of rolled-up ribbons of pastry, whereas Gottam Kajas are made of cylinders of pastry. Gottam Kajas are juicy from inside and dry on the outside. They melt as soon as they are put in the mouth. Madatha Kajas, on the other hand, have the same texture throughout in the form of layers, and become mostly dry if kept for longer than a few hours….especially if the sugar crystallises.
Also known as Tapeswaram Kaja, this is one of those gems that brought worldwide fame to the village whose name it carries. Famed to have originated from Tapeswaram within the East Godavari district, this sweet always reminds me of my childhood days when I used to wait for my uncle to bring Kaja from Kakinada. Till date, this is one of my top favourite sweets….And my favourite way to relish this sweet is to enjoy it hot (when it’s freshly made), layer by layer in circles starting from the crispiest top layer until the softest inner layer 😉 .
Easy Steps to follow for
Madatha Kaja Recipe
Let’s make the dough:
- In a large bowl take maida, a little salt and add ghee.
- Crumble and mix well. When you gather the flour in your fist, should make a tight ball and hold.
- Now, add water gradually (approximately ¼ cup) and knead to a smooth and soft dough.
- Cover the dough and rest for 30 minutes.
Sugar Syrup:
- Meanwhile, make sugar syrup. For this dissolve 1 cup sugar in 1/2 water and boil until you get a single string consistency. Turn off the heat, add 1/4 tsp cardamom powder and 1 teaspoon lemon juice (Prevents crystallisation). Cover & set aside.
Shaping Kaja:
- After 30 min. dust the dough with maida and roll with the rolling pin.
- Roll as thin as possible dusting maida as required.
- Sprinkle, corn flour and spread evenly.
- Start to roll tightly from one end.
- dust corn flour as you roll to prevent layers from sticking to each other.
- Seal the edges at the end brushing with some water.
- Now, roll the cylinder tight back and forth to remove any air gaps if present.
- Cut out the thin edges.
- Cut it into 1 inch pieces.
- Take each kaja and using a rolling pin, slightly flatten the edges of each kaja to form an oblong shape.
Deep Frying Kaja:
- Heat oil over medium heat.
- Once oil is hot enough, reduce the heat and add few kajas.
- Fry over medium low till they turn golden brown and crispy.
- Remove them and immediately drop the fried kajas into the warm sugar syrup.
- Soak them in the syrup for 5 minutes until you fry the net batch of kajas.
- Remove soaked kajas and place onn a wire mesh to drain out excess syrup.
Serving:
- They taste best when eaten hot.
- You can store in an airtight container for about 2 weeks.
Few Important Tips:
- Kneading to a soft dough is very important.
- The sugar syrup has to be close to one string consistency and not reach fully to one string consistency. It warm enough while kajas are added.
- Ideally, it’s best to make sugar syrup and deep fry kajas simultaneously for best results.
- Deep frying over medium low heat is very important.
- Do not overcrowd the pan while frying. Fry in batches.
Madatha Kaja Recipe - Khaja Sweet | Kaja Sweet Recipe Video
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 Cup Maida Plain Flour
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 to 3 tbsp Ghee Clarified Butter
For Sugar Syrup:
- 1 Cup Sugar-1 cup
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1/4 tsp Cardamom Powder
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice Optional
Other Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp Corn Flour
- Oil for Deep Frying
Instructions
Let's make the Dough:
- In a large bowl take 1 cup maida and add 3 teaspoons ghee.
- Crumble and mix well. When you gather the flour, should make a tight ball and hold intact.
- Now, add water gradually (approximately ¼ cup) and knead to a smooth and soft dough.
- Cover the dough and rest for 30 minutes.
Sugar Syrup:
- Meanwhile, make sugar syrup. For this dissolve 1 cup sugar in 1/2 water and boil until you get a single string consistency. Turn off the heat, add 1/4 tsp cardamom powder and 1 teaspoon lemon juice (Prevents crystallisation). Cover & set aside.
Shaping Kaja:
- After 30 min. dust the dough with maida and roll with the rolling pin.
- Roll as thin as possible dusting maida as required.
- Sprinkle, corn flour and spread evenly.
- Start to roll tightly from one end.
- dust corn flour as you roll to prevent layers from sticking to each other.
- Seal the edges at the end brushing with some water.
- Now, roll the cylinder tight back and forth to remove any air gaps if present.
- Cut out the thin edges.
- Cut it into 1 inch pieces and slightly flatten the edges of each kaja to for an oblong shape.
Deep Frying:
- Heat enough oil over medium heat.
- Once oil is hot enough, reduce the heat and add few kajas.
- Fry over medium low till they turn golden brown and crispy.
- Remove them and immediately drop the fried kajas into the warm sugar syrup.
- Soak them in the syrup for 5 minutes until you fry the net batch of kajas.
- Remove soaked kajas and place onn a wire mesh to drain out excess syrup.
Recipe Video
Notes
- You can also add 1 tablespoon curd while making the dough but it is optional.
- You can also add a pinch of baking soda while making the dough. This will make it crisp but you can achieve the same effect by using enough ghee to rub well into the flour & knead the dough properly.
- The sweet shops mostly use dalda and not ghee to get this flaky effect.
- You can also use mix 2 tbsp rice flour to 2 tbsp ghee (or dalda) and spread this paste on the rolled chapati instead of corn flour for getting the layers.
- Do not over boil the sugar syrup otherwise the sugar syrup hardens after the kajas cool down and also kajas will not absort syrup properly if it's too thick. Turn off heat before it reaches string consistency.
- Add a few drops of lemon juice will prevent crystallisation of the sugar syrup. Alternatively, you can add alum (Patika in telugu), which works perfectly. Sweet shops use this.
- Add piping hot kajas immediately to warm sugar syrup.
- Soak the kajas in warm syrup so that it can soak up a lot of syrup to penetrate through every layer. If you don't want them too sweet, remove them in a minute after soaking.
Check out other similar categories from blog:
And many more to come!!…..Stay Tuned!!
Hungry for more? Never miss a recipe!!…Subscribe to MasalaKorb and have posts delivered straight to your inbox! And connect with me on Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest for all of the latest updates.
Do subscribe to my YouTube Channel for latest video alerts!!
Did you make a recipe? Make sure to tag your photo with this hashtag: #masalakorb
Happy Cooking 
Cheers!!
Padma.
