Bellam Gavvalu - Sweet Shells

Sweet shells or gavvalu are a popular snack made in Andhra Pradesh. The traditional gavvalu are made with all purpose flour / maida and sugar. Semi soft dough is made with flour and shaped into small balls. Then flattened or rolled  to give them a shape of shell. Then deep fried in oil and then coated well with sugar syrup. These sweets shells can be stored in airtight container for up to a month.

Today for a change I have made these sweet shells with wheat flour and jaggery. I have added little sooji / semolina to the dough to give these shells a little extra crunch. This recipe goes to week 2, day 2 of Blogging Marathon 111.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour 2 cups

Sooji / Semolina 1 tbsp

Ghee 2 tbsp

Grated jaggery 2 cups

Oil for deep frying

Salt 1/4 tsp

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl add wheat flour, sooji and ghee.

Mix to get a crumbly texture.

Add enough water to make a stiff dough.

Cover and set aside for 15 minutes.

Knead the dough for 2 minutes and make small and equal size balls ( small grapes size / little bigger than blueberry )

The below picture shows the gadget to make gavvalu, you can use fork instead.

Take a ball of dough and press to make shells  as shown in the picture.

Once all the shells are ready heat oil and fry few at a time on medium flame till nice and crisp.

Meanwhile add 1/4 cup water to jaggery and boil it to get  a 2 string syrup.

Add all the fried shells to jaggery and mix well so that syrup is very well coated to the shells.

Let them rest aside to cool.

Serve.

Check to see what my fellow bloggers are cooking for Blogging Marathon 111.