GHEVAR SWEET | HOW TO MAKE GHEVAR | GHEWAR

Ghevar is a popular Indian honeycomb or disk-shaped sweet which is crispy, melt-in-mouth, and highly addictive due to its unique flavor and texture. Ghevar is drizzled with sugar syrup, garnished with nuts of your choice, and even rabri.

Jump to:

• What is Ghevar?
• Read these tips and tricks before you start making ghevar at home.
• Ingredients to make ghevar sweet at home
• How to make perfect crispy ghevar at home?
• How to fry ghevar without mould (mold)?
• Arranging the Ghevar
• Video recipe
• Step-by-step recipe
• Recipe card
• User Reviews

What is Ghevar?

Ghevar is a dessert from Rajasthani cuisine made using flour, ghee, ice cold water, and chilled milk. 

Ghewar can be made plain or with malai/mawa. Ghevar is then drizzled with sugar syrup and topped with rabdi or nuts of your choice. 

This sweet is popularly prepared during Shravan month (Sawan) for Raksha Bandhan and Teej festivals or during Bhai Dooji, Diwali, Holi. 

In a sweet shop or halwai, a special pan/mould is used to make ghevar. 

But with the simple recipe and steps given below, you can now make ghevar at home without any special pan/mold. 

Having made this sweet, if you ask me if making ghevar is difficult, I would say both yes and no because making the batter is very simple; the ingredients used are basic, but the frying part needs patience and can be tricky at times.

Read these tips and tricks before you start making ghevar at home.

• Check the video here for better understanding on making of ghevar once you read the tips. 
• I have not used any pointed/squeeze bottles to pour the batter. I have also not used special pans or molds to shape the ghevar while frying. I have only used a handheld electric beater. If you don't have one, you can still make this recipe with a whisk and spatula. 

• Before you start making the batter, keep the milk and water in the refrigerator. It is best to use cold water and chilled milk to make the batter. These cold ingredients will help in making ghevars crispy upon frying. 
• The pan you use for frying must be tall to avoid any mess in the kitchen. You have to pour the batter in intervals from a height so that the batter hits the oil as a thin stream. Each time when the batter is poured, the oil will bubble up. Always wait for the bubbles to settle down before making the next pour. Thus having a tall frying pan is useful. I have tried frying ghevars using a wide pan, but I have found it challenging to fry and remove them. 
• Traditionally ghevar is fried in ghee, while some use oil. I have used half ghee and half oil to fry ghevars. You can use either of them. 

• The amount of water you use to make the batter depends on the brand and quality of flour used. But see that the batter is of flowing consistency, like neer dosa batter. 
• The flame should be medium-high to high. Again depending on the size of the frying pan, adjust the intensity of the flame. If you fry on medium flame, ghevars will absorb too much oil, and if you fry on high, it may develop color faster. Judge and decide. 
• I have used a regular ladle to pour the batter while making ghevar. You pour one ladle of batter, wait for approximately 30 seconds to a minute before dropping the second ladle, and so on. For a medium-sized ghevar, you may need between a total of 6 to 8 ladles of batter. Please don't go with the exact ladle amounts that I mentioned in the recipe; use it as a guide. Depending on your pan size, you may have to drop more or fewer ladles of batter.

• While pouring the batter, pour it from at least 6 inches above the oil. This ensures that the batter falls in a thin stream, and you get that honeycomb texture. 
• You can drizzle honey or sugar water over ghevar if you are new to cooking or have no idea about making sugar syrup. I generally use sugar syrup with one-string consistency and flavor it with cardamom, saffron, and a pinch of lemon juice. Some use two-string consistency for their sugar syrup. All these are personal preferences. 
• The structure is crispy but very delicate too. So be careful while removing it from the oil or transferring it to a wire rack/serving plate. It may break and fall apart if not handled delicately. 

Ingredients to make ghevar sweet at home

For Ghevar Batter

½ cup Ghee or Brown butter
1 ½ cup Ice cold water, adjust as needed
½ cup Ice cold milk
1 cup All purpose flour or Maida
½ teaspoon Cardamom powder
Few strands of saffron or Kesar
¼ teaspoon Salt
Oil or Ghee, for frying

For topping

Pistachios, chopped
Edible Silver Leaves/vark

For sugar syrup or chashni

1 cup Sugar
½ cup Water
¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
Few strands of kesar or saffron
1 teaspoon of lemon juice, or a few drops

How to make perfect crispy ghevar at home?

Making of sugar syrup or chashni:

In a pan on medium heat, add sugar and water, and stir until sugar dissolves and comes to a rolling boil. Now, continue to cook the mixture till it develops one string consistency. 

To check one string consistency, take a drop of syrup on your index finger and then press with your thumb finger and move them apart. It should form a single thread or one string. Switch off the flame. Check out the video here.

Add lemon juice, cardamom powder, and saffron, and keep this aside. 

Making of ghevar batter

Note that we are adding water, ghee, and flour in parts. 

In a bowl, add ghee, 1 tablespoon of milk & water and mix until it is smooth and combined. 

To this, add ¼ cup of flour, 2 tablespoon each of water and milk, and mix until combined. 

Next, add another ¼ cup of flour, 2 tablespoon each of water, milk, cardamom powder, and saffron strands, and mix until combined. 

Add remaining ½ cup flour and remaining milk and mix until combined. 

Finally, add water in 2 to 3 tablespoon increments and keep mixing till you get smooth flowing batter. I needed a total of 1.5 cups of water. The amount of water needed may vary slightly. Check the batter consistency here. 

Finally, add a pinch of salt and mix. Your batter is ready

How to fry ghevar without mould (mold)?

Heat oil (or ghee or a combination of both) in a deep pan with tall sides on medium flame. 

Once the oil is hot, start frying on a medium-high flame, and pour a ladle full of batter from 6 inches height, little by little, at the center. It will sizzle/bubble and come up and then settle down.

At this point, pour another ladle full of batter at the center. Repeat this process a total of 6 to 8 times, depending on how thick or thin you want your ghevar to be. Every once in a while, use the long end of the ladle to make space at the center. Making space in the middle allows you to pour the batter easily the next time and also helps in removing the ghevar from the pan after frying.  Check out the video here. 

Once the ghevar becomes golden brown, remove it from the pan carefully and transfer it to a wire rack to drain off excess oil/ghee. To help with easy cleaning, I have placed a plate below the wire rack so that any extra oil is collected on the plate. 

Repeat the process to make more ghevars. 

Arranging the Ghevar

If the sugar syrup has thickened upon cooling, just warm it a little. 

Place a ghevar on the serving plate. Drizzle sugar syrup or coat like you do the jalebi. You can also add rabdi or rabri. Garnish with pistachios and edible silver vark. 

Video recipe

Video recipe for Ghevar Sweet | How to make Ghevar at home without mould?

Step-by-step recipe

Detailed step-by-step recipe for Traditional Rajasthani sweet Ghevar | Ghewar for Raksha Bandhan, Rakhi, Teej, Bhai dooj

Recipe card

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