What is Ghevar or Ghewar?
Malai Ghevar is a disc-shaped sweet cake made with maida and soaked in sugar syrup and garnished with rabri and dry fruits as toppings. I will share my Malai Ghevar Recipe in this blog so that you can also try it with your loved ones during this festive season.
Ghevar is a traditional Rajasthani sweet dessert associated with the festivals of Teej and Rakhi during the Hindu month of Shravan or monsoon season in north India. It is also super popular in the states of Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat etc. It comes in various varieties like plain Ghevar, Malai Ghevar, Paneer Ghevar, and even mawa Ghevar. And all these varieties are unique in their own way with the exception of the base cake being the same. The ghevar toppings make all the difference.
What is the ayurvedic significance of Ghevar during monsoon?
Like me, have you also ever wondered why Ghevar is not available through out the year? And it suddenly pops up during the monsoon season. As per Ayurveda, the months of Shravan and Bhadrapada i.e. July-August-September are predominated with Vata and Pitta respectively. This also happens to be the season of festivals like Teej and Rakhi, and how can you celebrate festivals without sweets? Apparently Vata and Pitta are types of life forces/dosha which are present in equal strength among all humans. During this season, the effects of Vata and Pitta are amplified causing dryness and acidity in the body, resulting in restlessness and mood swings.
The highly sweet and ghee laden Ghevar provides relief from the acidic and moist environment. They have Vata and Pitta calming properties due to ghee and sweet syrup. It is also believed to have a calming effect on mind as well as the body.
I’m sure that’s true, but more than the body, it’s my tongue that craves for malai ghevar recipe in this season 😉
While I was thinking about making my Malai Ghevar recipe, I realized that I don’t have the ghevar moulds, so I decided to experiment with the deep pan available at home for making the base cake. If you use a mould, then you can ghevar in that shape too.
Malai Ghevar Recipe | Best Ghevar for Rakhi and Teej
Ghevar is a disc-shaped sweet cake made with maida and soaked in sugar syrup and garnished with rabri and dry fruits as toppings.
Ghevar is a traditional Rajasthani dessert associated with the festivals of Teej and Rakhi during the Hindu month of Shravan or monsoon season in north India. It is also super popular in the states of Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat etc.
Ingredients
Ingredients for Ghevar Base cake
- Maida (All purpose flour) - 1 bowl
- Besan/Chickpea Flour - 2 tsp
- Ghee - 3 tsp (also 500 ml for frying)
- Chilled Milk - 1 bowl
- Chilled Water - ¾ glass
- Lemon - 1
- Ice cubes - 15 - 20
Ingredients for Sugar Syrup
- Sugar - ½ bowl
- Water - ¼ bowl
Ingredients for Rabdi
- Milk - 1 litre
- Sugar - ¼ bowl
- Cardamom Powder - ¼ tsp
- Saffron - 7 - 8 strands (Optional)
- Lemon - ½
- Grinded Almonds & Cashew - 20 pcs
Instructions
Making the Ghevar is basically a three part activity:
Making the Base Cake:
- Take 3 tsp of ghee in a mixing bowl and add 5-6 ice cubes to it. Mix it properly with your hands till it becomes a creamy emulsion. This process will take 4-5 minutes of mixing.
- Slowly add maida to the creamy ghee, while mixing it. Add 2 tsp of gram flour/besan to the mix and keep mixing it. Add chilled milk to this mixture slowly and be careful, no lumps should be formed.
- Once you have added the entire one bowl of milk, add chilled water to it to make a thin batter with flowing consistency.
- Place this batter bowl in some other bowl containing 10-15 ice cubes in order to keep the batter cold else the ghee will start melting in the mix which can spoil the batter.
- For frying the Ghevar cakes, take around 500 ml of ghee in a frying wok or a deep vessel. Keep it on high flame.
- Once the ghee is hot, pour one ladle of the batter slowly in the ghee from height. Let the batter settle down for a minute, and repeat the process. Give at least 1 minute time to settle the mixture in the ghee. Repeat this process for 5 - 6 times.
- In between frying, take a wooden stick to make a small hole in the centre of the cake which will be helpful in taking the Ghevar cake out of the pan once it is cooked properly.
- Frying time of one Ghevar is approximately 10-12 minutes. Once the Ghevar turns brown, it will automatically start leaving the sides of the vessel. From the centre with the help of the wooden stick take out the Ghevar cake carefully and keep it above some bowl so that it drops all the excess ghee.
Making the Sugar Syrup
- Take ½ bowl of sugar and add ¼ bowl of water to it. Allow the mixture to boil and the sugar to get mixed properly.
- Once the sugar is mixed, allow it to cook for 4-5 more minutes. Your sugar syrup is ready, keep it to cool down.
Preparing Rabdi
- Take one litre of milk and allow it to boil, add ¼ bowl of sugar, add grinded almonds, cashew and cardamom powder.
- Once the milk reduces to ⅓ of its original quantity, add 1 tsp of lemon juice to it just to give it grainy texture.
- Allow it to cook more for 5 minutes. Your Rabri is ready. Cool it and put it in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
Assembling the Ghevar
- The most important thing for assembling the Ghevar is that all three things: base cake, sugar syrup and rabdi should not be very hot.
- Take the base cake and pour the sugar syrup over it with the help of a spoon. Make sure that you spread it all over the base cake.
- Now, pour the chilled rabri over the base cake and garnish it with some chopped nuts of your choice, silver work and rose petals. Your tasty Ghevar is ready!
Notes
- For assembling Ghevar, you need to cool the rabri in the refrigerator for at least 2 -3 hours.
- Allow the Ghevar cake to cool down for at least one hour before you start assembling.
Recommended Products
I recommend products that will help you make the recipe in the best way possible.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Amount Per Serving: Calories: 252
While Ghevar is super tasty, I’m sure you’d have guessed that it’s also fully loaded with calories from ghee and sugar. So it’s not the best idea to eat a full ghevar yourself, and best to share it with your loved ones.
As Rakhi is just a few days away and my brothers love Ghevar, it’s likely that we won’t be meeting due to the lockdown. However, I’ve got my Malai Ghevar stock ready with me that I’m going to devour while we celebrate Rakhi on a Zoom or Skype call.
Hope you enjoyed the Malai Ghevar recipe, I’m sure you’ll try it out to make your monsoon season tastier as well, do check out the following desserts too
Absolutely scrumptious! 😍
Too tasty!
Amazing recipe…just loved it👌👌
Amazing easy to make recipes. Must try especially during quarantine when we all are craving our favourite foods.
Kudos. Keep up the work 😃👍