Kakinada Kaja (

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

: కాకినాడ కాజా) is a sweet delicacy originated from the city of

Kakinada Kakinada ( formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the sixth largest city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the district headquarters of the Kakinada District. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. J. ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, India in 1891. It is different from the regular world known

Khaja Khaja is an Indian deep-fried pastry, commonly filled with fruit or soaked with sugar syrup. History Khajjaka, plain or sweet mentioned in Manasollasa, was a wheat flour preparation fried in ghee. Khaja is believed to have originated from the ...

. It resembles a closed Tube. Tube is known as Gottam in

. So it was called as Gottam Kaja. It has its own recipe. It is a major famous sweet in entire

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

. It was made popular by a person called Chittipeddi Kotaiah which is why it is also known as Kakinada Kotaiah Kaja. As of August 2018, Government of

is said to be in the process of applying for

Geographic Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

(GI) tag for this sweet. A village named

Tapeswaram Tapeswaram is a village in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. The Uma Agastheswara Temple in Tapeswaram has a great importance and is believed to be constructed by Agasthya. Cuisine Tapeswaram is best known for its sweet delicacy ...

is near the city of

, which is also famous for another

recipe known as Madatha Kaja.

History

Kakinada Kaja was originated in

when Chittipedi Kotaiah hailing from Chinaparimi village near

Tenali Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama and hence, it is called ''Andhra ...

in Guntur district (Kaja is a town in Guntur district) migrated to

town in 1891 and started a sweet shop making this sweet. From then, it was continued as a legacy and the entire generation of the family still run them from the city. It is still being sold in large numbers and people come from many parts of India to taste this sweet. Apart from this they also sell many sweets in their shop. It is also served in many

cuisines A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...

in the city.

Ingredients

Refined wheat flour, sugar, and edible oils are the chief ingredients of Kaja.

Preparation

First, a paste is made out of wheat flour, mawa, and oil. It is then deep fried until crisp. A sugar syrup known as "Pakamu" is made. The crisp pastries are then soaked in the sugar syrup until they absorb it.

Varieties

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 dry on the outside and juicy and full of sugar syrup on the inside. They melt as soon as they are put in the mouth. Madatha Kajas, on the other hand, have the same texture throughout, and become mostly dry if kept for longer than a few hours.

References

{{Reflist Indian desserts Andhra cuisine Confectionery Kakinada