Khaja also Pheni is Oriya sweet

Oriya cuisine

Oriya cuisine refers to the cooking of the eastern Indian state of Orissa. Foods from this area are rich and varied, while relying heavily on local ingredients. The flavors are usually subtle and delicately spiced, quite unlike the fiery curries typically associated with Indian cuisine. Fish and...

 made from Refined wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

 flour

Flour

Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...

, sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

 and edible oils . It is made and eaten all throughout Indian subcontinent, though it is known by different names. It is prepared in the states of Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

, Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

, Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

 and Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

.

Legend

Khaja is one of the Chapana bhoga of Lord Jagannath

Jagannath

Jagannath is a transcendental non-anthropotheistic Hindu god worshiped primarily by the people of Indian state of Orissa, and, to a great extent, West Bengal...

of Puri

Puri

Puri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...

, Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

. Legends say Lord personally came in dream of a Man from Puri and instructed him how to prepare it. Next day the person prepared a basket full of Khajas and offered it to Lord which the Lord happily accepted .

History

It is believed that, even 2000 years before, Khajas were prepared in the fertile land on the southern side of the Gangetic Plains of Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

 and UP

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

-Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

. These areas which are home to Khaja, once comprised the central part of Maurya

Maurya Empire

The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...

 and Gupta

Gupta Empire

The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the...

 empires.

Presently, Khajas are prepared and sold in the city of Unnao

Unnao

The town of Unnao is the headquarters of Unnao District in Uttar Pradesh, India between Kanpur and Lucknow. It is approximately 18 km from Kanpur & 60 km from Lucknow . It is connected to these two cities by roadway as well as by railway. The nearest airport is at Amausi about...

, Patna

Patna

Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...

, Gaya

Gaya, India

Gaya is the second largest city of Bihar, India, and it is also the headquarters of Gaya District.Gaya is 100 kilometers south of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Situated on the banks of Falgu River , it is a place sanctified by both the Hindu and the Buddhist religions...

, Baharampur

Baharampur

Baharampur is a city in the West Bengal state of India. Baharampur is the sixth largest city in West Bengal and situated in central part of West Bengal. Baharampur is nominated for becoming the municipal corporation...

 and several other places across the states of Bihar and West Bengal, yet Khajas of Silao

Silao Nalanda

Silao is a city and a notified area in Nalanda district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is known for the excellent Khaja made by its Halwais. It is also the head quarters of a Block, a small administrative unit, by the same name.-Geography:...

 and Rajgir

Rajgir

Rajgir is a city and a notified area in Nalanda district in the Indian state of Bihar. The city of Rajgir was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire. Its date of origin is unknown, although ceramics dating to about 1000 BC have...

 areas have a distinct superiority over Khajas of all other places. Silao and Rajgir are the places where one can get puffy Khaja, which melts in the mouth.

Preparation

A thick paste is made out of wheat flour, mawa, and oil. Then it is deep fried until crisp. Then a sugar syrup is made which is known as Sira/Raseni or Pak. The crisp croissants are then soaked in the sugar syrup until they absorb the sugar syrup.

In South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

 similar variety of sweet is prepared, it is known as Badusahi or Padusahi. The same kind of Sweet when stuffed with stuffing made of dry fruits, it is known as Chandrakala (half round) or Suryakala (Full round)

In Kutch, special type of Namkeen Khaja, which are salty in taste are prepared. The sweet variety of Khaja in Kutch is called as as Kutchi Khaja.

However, Khaja itself is originated in the Central Asian lands of Samarkand

Samarkand

Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...

 or Bukhara

Bukhara

Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...

. The word Khaja

Khaja

Khaja also Pheni is Oriya sweet made from Refined wheat flour, sugar and edible oils . It is made and eaten all throughout Indian subcontinent, though it is known by different names. It is prepared in the states of Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.-Legend:Khaja is one...

 is originated from Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

 word Akhja meaning to Pure

Pure

-Computing:* A pure function* Pure Software, a company founded in 1991 by Reed Hastings to support the Purify tool* Pure-FTPd, FTP server software* Pure , functional programming language based on term rewriting-Companies and products:...

. Khajas were introduced by Yavans/Greeks

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 travels in the soil of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...