Desi Fiesta

Rajasthani Ghevar – Raksha Bandhan spl

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On this special occasion am so happy to share this traditional rajasthani ghevar .The festival is marked by the tying of a rakhi, or holy thread, which comes in many colors and fancy designs, by the sister on the wrist of her brother. The brother in return offers a gift to his sister. The brother usually presents his sister with an envelope filled with money, though other presents such as sarees and clothing can be given. The brother and sister traditionally feed one another sweets. These sweets include anything from Jalebi, Kaju Katli, Burfi and the most traditional rajasthani ghevar.  Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on shravan purnima. I know all remember this Ghevar is a popular post in my Blog as I challenged Ghevar for SNC. Am here with another ghevar post  today 🙂 

 Ghevars are usually and traditionally large in size approx. 200 mm. or 250 mm. (8″ or 10″) squares or rounds and are either sweetened with syrup or served topped with sweet rabdi (i.e. thickened milk). Lakshmi Mishtaan Bhandar in Jaipur is famous for their “melt in the mouth” Paneer ghevars and many other sweet shops in Rajasthan also specialise in the same. We can find them all over India in the occassion of raksha bandhan .Ghevars are earmarked as a traditional dish for some special rituals and festivals. They are generally prepared in January for Makar Sankranti ( or you call them pongal), in March-April for Gangaur and in July-August for the Teej festival ( in some parts they celebrate karwa choth ) . But you can enjoy these at any time of the year by just following the recipe given below. And of course ghevar is more  prepared for rakhi and in our family we take ghevar as sweet for our brothers . As my bro likes them a lot i am dedicating this traditional and crispy ghevar’s as my  virtual treat for him 🙂

Ingredients


Maida – 1 cup
Ice cold Water – 1 cup 
Chilled Milk – 1/4 cup
Clarified Butter/ Ghee – 1/4 cup
Ice cubes – 6-7
saffron stands few
ghee / Olive oil for frying  ( I used cooking Olive oil )
Almonds and Pistachios (for garnish)
Rose essence or kewra essence few drops
Cardamom pd  – 1 pinch (optional)

For sugar syrup 

Sugar – 2 cup
Water – 1 cup
Cardamom pd – a pinch
Rose / kewra essence – few drops 

Method

For the sugar syrup


  • Combine the sugar and water in a pan and simmer till it reaches a 1 string consistency.
  • Put a drop of sugar syrup on your thumb and touch drop with forefinger. When you pull both the fingers apart, a single thread of syrup should form without breaking.
  • Add rose/kewra essence  and also cardamom once the sugar attains the consistency.
  • Remove from the heat and keep warm.

For Ghevar

  • In a bowl first take the ghee and 4 -5 ice cubes
  • In a large round bowl, take solidified ghee with some ice cubes and churn/whisk it till it turns white and smooth. Remove the ice cubes.
  • Soak saffron in 1 tablespoon of milk. Add maida, then water and  then milk to the mixture in turns little by little .Do not drop all the ingredients in a go. Adding saffron to the mixture will make it light yellow in color, you can also make them plain white too. 
  • Avoid any lump in the mixture.Once lumps are formed it will become difficult to break the lumps
  • Heat ghee in a deep pan. Slowly pour the above mixture into the center of pan. 
  • As soon as the batter touches the hot ghee, bubbles start to appear. Be sure that the ghee bubbles do not start jumping out of the vessel. If you see that the bubbles are getting high enough, stop pouring for a while, and continue later.
  • After the first spoon or after pouring  , wait for a few seconds till the bubbles settle, and then pour the second spoonful  . Repeat this for 3-4 times if you want to increase the size and thickness  of your ghevar I poured  only 2 ladle  full to make mini ghevar . This actually depends on the size of the vessel; the bigger the size, more are the number of ladle or the number of times you have to pour the batter  required.
  • If the ghee or oil  is not hot enough, the batter will start sticking to the bottom, so keep the flame on medium to high depending on the temperature required. 
  • When you pour in the batter, you’ll see that the batter starts scattering and collects near the sides in a circular fashion. As you keep increasing the batter, the disc starts taking its correct shape. In the meanwhile, if the batter sticks in the middle after pouring, use a skewer to detach that. Keep on increasing the center space by using that skewer after the batter has settled. After 2-3  pourings this is completely you choice on how thick enough you want your ghevar be i tried 3 – 5 ladles .
  • Once all the mixture is poured into the pan, lower down the heat to medium high. Let it cook till light brown.
  • Take it out and keep it on paper towel or a plate , Repeat this for all the batter left and stack the ghevars one by one on top . so that excess ghee will drain out.
  • After all oil get drained out , dip it in sugar syrup and remove it .Garnish it with dry fruits and cardamom powder.
Tips
  • Dry ghevar’s without syrup can easily be stored for 15 days. When you want to have them, dip them in the hot syrup an hour back and serve then. 
  • While making the batter, if lumps form, simply use a blender/mixer for getting the smooth consistency. Be careful not to blend it for a long time else the ghee would separate and curdle the mixture; just 1 pulse of mixing is enough to break the lumps.
  • Using ice cubes while whisking the ghee saves time and the ghee creams or smoothens faster.
  • Always remember  the batter should be ice cold and the oil should be hot while frying.
  • We are using ice cold water and milk to keep the batter emulsions free and the process of whisking takes less time .
  • If you find the batter sticking to the bottom , do not panic, take a break,  put the flame on high, and try after 1 minute. 
  • Pour the batter in very thin streams, almost like pouring drops.
  • Keep the height for pouring at its max.
  • Do not overdo pouring. Begin with 1-2 spoons and gradually increase if you go successful. 
  • After topping them with hot syrup, keep them for some time; so that the ghevar is nice soaked.
  • You can also garnish the Ghevar with fresh khoya and top them with thick rabdi .
Wish you a happy Raksha bandhan to all my readers !! 🙂

For Other variations and methods with step wise clicks to Make ghevar Click here

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sangeetha M says

    wow…delicious ghevar with stunning pics manju…never tasted this sinful delight, wish to try this at least once…your pics are tempting me badly..any left overs?

  3. DivyaGCP says

    After seeing pictures of your ghevar in Facebook, was waiting to see your post… Absolutely beautiful pictures and amazing post.. Nothing can be more perfect than this ghevar for Rakshabandhan.. Wonderful dear!!

  4. Priya Anandakumar says

    Simply superb Manju, I have had it once in my school days in my friends place. I am so happy now that I got your recipe, I am gonna try this. Very very beautiful clicks is really breathtaking and awesome. Wish I stayed near your house, I would have completed the whole lot of ghevar. Thanks for the recipe dear…

  13. sangeetha pn says

    Lip smacking mouthmelting.. Ghevar.. You really tempt me with your pics manju.. 🙂 So awesome each click.. not to forget to mention about this sweet looks so very perfect.. Hats off gal!

  23. techie2mom says

    First things first!! The clicks look soooo amazing, i fell in love with the Ghevar all over again 🙂
    2ndly, thanks for explaining in detail. I will try to make it at home!!

  27. Pooja Agrawal says

    wow…delicious …thanks for linking to my event…please make sure you followed all the rules.please add logo on your side bar so that I can acknowledged your entries..thanks for participating…