Rajasthani Ghevar Jali Disc Honeycomb Festival Sweet

Method

1. 1

   Make the batter: Whisk 2 cups maida with 1/2 cup melted ghee until combined. Gradually add ice cold water while whisking — about 1 cup — until a smooth, very thin batter forms. The batter must be thin enough to pour in a thin stream.

2. 2

   Rest the batter in ice: Place the batter bowl in a larger bowl of ice. Keep the batter very cold throughout the frying process — cold batter in hot ghee is what creates the honeycomb structure.

3. 3

   Make the sugar syrup: Boil sugar and water 5 minutes to 1-string consistency. Add cardamom. Keep warm.

4. 4

   Heat the deep cylinder with ghee: Ghevar requires a deep, narrow cylindrical vessel (a smaller pressure cooker or tall narrow pot). Fill with ghee to 8 cm depth. Heat until very hot (about 180°C).

5. 5

   Pour the batter in a thin stream: Using a ladle, pour a thin stream of cold batter in a circular motion from the centre outward into the hot ghee. The batter hits the hot ghee and instantly puffs and solidifies creating a lacy, honeycomb lattice.

6. 6

   Layer by layer: Pour a few tablespoons at a time, letting each layer set before adding the next. The ghevar builds up in layers.

7. 7

   Remove and drain: Once the disc is about 2 to 3 cm thick and golden all the way through, remove carefully. Drain on a rack.

8. 8

   Soak in sugar syrup: Dip the hot ghevar into warm sugar syrup for 1 to 2 minutes.

9. 9

   Top with rabdi: Spread the thick, reduced rabdi over the top surface of the syrup-soaked ghevar.

10. 10

    Garnish and serve: Top with pistachio and almond slivers. Serve warm or at room temperature.

11. 11

    Note: Ghevar is one of the most technically challenging Indian sweets to make — the cold-batter-in-hot-ghee technique requires practice and a specific vessel. The Teej festival (observed by women in Rajasthan in the monsoon month of Shravan) and Raksha Bandhan are the specific occasions when ghevar is made and gifted. Jaipur and Jodhpur have ghevar shops that operate year-round but massively ramp up production in the monsoon months for the festival demand.