A little crispy, a little soft, coated with sugary delight and topped with rich malai or rabri. Oh, my mouth is watering.
WHAT IS GHEVAR?
For me, it is the king of all Indian sweets. It is a Rajasthani sweet traditionally associated with the Teej festival. It is available only during the rainy season for a month or two and then we have to wait for another year to enjoy this sweet treat. Although, now in some parts of India you can get it throughout the year.
It is a disc-shaped sweet and crispy cake, made of maida (refined flour), soaked in sugar syrup, and topped with some nuts. Making it is an art. A streak of thin batter goes into the hot ghee or oil and then it forms volcano-like bubbles which settle in a few seconds. Then again you release a streak of batter in the oil. It is repeated several times and then you get a honeycomb-like disc-shaped structure. Watching the making process is actually a treat to the eyes.
WHY IS IT SEASONAL?
When deep-fried, it comes out all crispy and it needs some moisture to become slightly soft. That is why it is made in the rainy season. In the rainy season, there is humidity. It absorbs the moisture in the air and becomes soft and tender. But now, the demand for crispy Ghevar is increasing. That’s why in some parts, you get it throughout the year.
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STORY TIME
Everybody says that it is very difficult to make and you just can not make it right at home. Since I always heard that I never even thought of trying it out at home. Also, it is deep-fried and I just don’t like to do that. We always bought it from the sweet shops. It is our favorite. We buy a pack of 1 Kg and it gets finished in a day. Then we buy again and this repeats till the season lasts. But then COVID happened. And we stopped buying food from outside.
Jatin loved it so much and when he started craving it, he decided to make it at home. Oh boy. He has guts. He watched so many recipes and one day he bought all the ingredients. With full excitement, he started the cooking process. He was even saying that he will make a big batch and send it to our families. But he failed miserably. Oh boy. His disappointment made me sad.
Then after a year, when again the Ghevar season came, I decided to give this bad boy a try. With full excitement, I was telling everyone that I am going to make it and everyone said that it is difficult and can’t be made at home. So, I didn’t keep high hopes. I wanted to try and see what the fuss is all about. And I wanted to surprise Jatin and make him happy. To my surprise, I did it. My first attempt was okay and my second attempt, well Jatin said that it is exactly like what we get in sweet shops. Yay. Victory.
& then I realized that MAKING GHEVAR IS EASY!
ELEMENTS OF GHEVAR
Making Ghevar is easy. But it is a time-consuming recipe. You need to prepare the following things for that:
1 – SUGAR SYRUP
For Ghevar, you need 1-Thread sugar syrup. It is called Ek-taar ki chashni in Hindi. It is very simple to make and needs just four ingredients – sugar, water, cardamom, and lemon juice. Why lemon juice? Well, it prevents the crystalization of sugar syrup. Do not worry, it doesn’t make it lemony.
To test if it is perfect, take out a drop of sugar syrup in a bowl, let it cool down. Then press it in between your index finger and thumb, release the pressure slightly and you will see one thread of sugar syrup. But it gets difficult to find out if you are a beginner. So, once the sugar dissolves, lower the flame and let it cook for 7 to 10 minutes. It will be just perfect.
2 – RABDI
You can make it either with whole milk only or you can mix whole milk and milk powder. Both of them tastes very good. The only difference is TIME. Milk rabdi takes a very long time to get done and you need to keep stirring in between otherwise it sticks to the bottom and may burn. If you have patience, go for it. But if you want to speed up the process and make a quick version of rabdi, just mix it up with milk powder. It tastes equally good and takes just 30 to 45 minutes to cook. One more best thing about it is that it doesn’t make any malai on top or on the sides and you get a creamy and smooth rabdi. That is what I prefer on my ghewar.
To make rabdi. make sure you use a heavy bottom pan. Otherwise, milk sticks to the bottom and starts burning. If it sticks to the bottom and you get clumps in your rabdi, just strain it using a sieve. Do not worry. It will be all nice and smooth.
3 – BATTER
This is the most important element of making ghewar. But it is easy. We are not going to make it the traditional way, with our hands. I am going to use an easy process for the same. I made the batter using my mixer grinder. Trust me. It doesn’t make any difference. Plus, it saves a lot of time. Also, I do not add gram flour or besan to the batter. It makes the ghewar extremely crispy. It literally hurt my jaws.
One MOST IMPORTANT thing which you can’t ignore is that you need a cold batter for this recipe. When you drip the cold batter in hot oil or ghee, it releases the moisture and in the process, creates a honeycomb-like structure. I take the batter in a pourer and put the rest of it in the refrigerator.
If while churning, the batter forms a creamy and frothy layer on top, do not worry. Just strain it using a sieve. It will be all okay.
TIPS TO MAKE IT RIGHT
1 – COLD BATTER
Like I already mentioned above, you can not ignore this step. Use cold water to make the batter and keep it cold at all times.
2 – HOT OIL/GHEE
The temperature of ghee or oil is also very important. We need it hot. When you pour the cold batter into the ghee/oil, its temperature reduces. That is why it is important to cook it on a high flame at all times. You may reduce it if you think that your ghewar is burning. But increase it again when you see that it is not spluttering enough when you pour the batter.
Now, if the temperature of oil/ghee is lower, the batter starts collecting at the bottom and forms a clump. You will understand the temperature needed after trying one or two ghevar.
3 – POURING
This step tests your patience. You can not think about speeding up this step. You won’t get a good honeycomb-like structure. Always pour a little batter at a time. It splutters and then you have to wait for the bubbles to settle. You need to do this step for a good amount of time. So, make it when you are in a good mood.
4 – COOKING PAN
If you are a beginner, I would suggest you use a pan or cooker which is deep enough. The reason being, when you pour the batter, it splutters in hot ghee. It may come out if your vessel is not deep enough. Also, whatever vessel you use, just half fill it with ghee or oil.
PATIENCE IS THE KEY
I said the same in my Dhaba-style dal makhani, vegan dal makhani, Pindi chhole, mango cheesecake recipes.
Most of us screw up while making ghewar at home and one of the reasons for that is the lack of patience. It is a time-consuming recipe and we often try to speed up the process. But all good things take time. So, you have to have a lot of patience while making it. You may feel like speeding up the process by pouring a lot of batter, but then you won’t get good results. Sometimes, we skip chilling the batter and like my husband, use the room temperature water to make ghewar. The result – FAILED GHEWAR.
Bottom line is – Have Patience.
CAN WE STORE IT?
Yes. You can.
You can deep fry the ghevar and keep it in the freezer for up to a month. Don’t put any sugar syrup and rabdi. It reduces the shelf life.
After putting sugar syrup and rabdi, it can stay refrigerated for 2 days.
Now you are all ready to make ghewar (or ghevar) at home. Just grab all the ingredients and be ready to win the hearts of everyone in your family. You will become a cooking star. Trust me. Trust yourself. Follow the guidelines and you will rock. Make this Indian sweet (mithai) during the festive season. Everyone will love it. If you like the recipe, please share the photo on Instagram and tag us too @marriedfriends. We just love to see your recreation of our recipes.
MORE DESSERT RECIPES TO TRY:
Happy Cooking 🙂
Love from us
Richa & Jatin
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