Crispy Ghevar

I am surprised that I am making a lot of sweets these days. Which is strange given I don’t enjoy a lot of sweets. But I have one unique reason each time for making these desserts. Like this time, I thought that monsoons have come, our won Saavan ka Mahina where brothers get sweets like Ghevar and new dresses for their sisters. Now this year we are still abstaining from eating out, I decided to try making crispy Ghevar at home. It seemed a bit daunting but I still decided to give it a try.

Ghevar is a crispy sweet Indian sweet made from thin batter made from all-purpose flour, ghee, and milk. It is then poured into hot oil and fried and then sweetened with a sugar syrup flavored with cardamom and saffron strands. Getting that mesh-like structure is definitely a skill one needs to master. But having tried this for the very first time and been able to make a decent one, here are some tricks I can share.

TIPS TO MAKE A PERFECT CRISPY GHEVAR:

1. Make sure you mix the ghee with an ice cube for about 3-4 minutes until it solidifies. For the last few minutes, just mix it well with your hands until it gets very soft and slightly heated up with your fingers. If it is super cold, it wouldn’t mix properly in the maida mix.
2. While dropping the batter, oil/ghee should be very hot. If not, you wouldn’t be able to make a proper mesh.
3. Take a ladle with a long arm to ensure that you are safe while dropping the batter.
4. Also, remember to drop from a height to ensure that it splutters and forms a nice mesh.

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
SERVINGS: 2
DIFFICULTY SCALE: High

I have a small katori/bowl for this to make only 2 medium t- small size Ghevar. You can increase your quantity of the ingredients according to the number of Ghevar you wish to make.

INGREDIENTS:   

For the Ghevar –

1. Ghee/clarified butter – ½ cup
2. Maida/All-purpose flour – 1 cup
3. Cold Milk – ½ cup
4. Cold water – 1.25 cups
5. Oil/ghee – ¼ litre, for frying
6. Almonds – 2-3
7. Pistachios – 2-3
8. Silver film/wark – 1 sheet

For the Sugar Syrup –

9. Sugar – ½ cup
10. Water – 4-5 tablespoons
11. Saffron strands – 2-3
12. Cardamom pod – 1

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:

1. Kadahi/wok
2. Whisk
3. Ladle

RECIPE:

For the Ghevar Batter-

1. Freeze water in a small katori and leave it for a few hours to get a nice piece of ice. Alternatively, you can also use a big ice cube.
2. Take a mixing bowl and add ½ cup ghee to it.
3. Place the ice cube in the ghee and start rubbing it vigorously. Keep rubbing for 3-4 minutes. The ghee would have solidified by now.

4. Remove the ice cube now and keep rubbing the ghee for another 2-3 minutes. It will turn cream-ish and would get soft with the heat from your fingers.
5. Now add a cup of maida to it and use your fingers to crumble the mix.

6. Add in half a cup of milk and mix with light hands.
7. Next, add about ½ cup of water. Mix well and see that there are no lumps in the batter.
8. Mix another ½ cup of water and make a smooth runny batter. Add a little more water if needed. This is necessary to form a thin meshy Ghevar.

9. Now strain the mix if you see a lot of fat from the ghee separating. Since I saw that, I strained the mix. If you don’t see it, let it be.

Frying the Ghevar –

10. Place a heavy kadahi on high heat and fill it more than half with oil or ghee. I used a heavy iron kadhai. Do this before mixing maida and ghee so that the oil/ghee gets hot once the batter is ready.
11. Once the oil is super-hot, take a long stem ladle and start pouring the batter from a height. Drop about 1/4^th of the batter right in the middle and let it form a mesh and go to the corners of the kadahi.
12. After a few seconds, drop in a little batter again in the middle and let it go to the sides.
13. Repeat this step till for about 2 ladles of the batter. Keep a small hole in the middle.

14. Turn the heat to medium-high. After about 1 minute, start removing the mesh that is sticking to the sides.
15. Fry till it becomes brown in color and looks crisp. Since the batter was runny, this needs a few minutes to cook.      16. Remove carefully from the kadahi and place it on a wire rack to drain out excess oil.

For the sugar syrup –

17. Mix sugar and a little water in a frying pan and let it come to a boil.
18. Cook on medium heat for another 3-4 minutes until you get a thick syrup with 2 string consistency.
19. Add a few strands of saffron and freshly ground cardamom seeds.

For assembling the Ghevar –

20. Add 3-4 tablespoons of sugar syrup in the hot Ghevar so that it absorbs it well.
21. Thinly slice a few pieces of almond and pistachios.
22. Garnish the Ghevar with these dry fruits.
23. Decorate with some silver film/vark.

Serve this crispy Ghevar, a perfect Indian sweet for Teej and Raksha Bandhan. I am sure everyone would love this.

If you love these Indian sweets, then do check out these recipes too:

1. Kesar Ras Malai
2. Nolen Gurer Rasgulla
3. Firni