Hariyali Teej, which falls in the auspicious month of Shravan, is one of the most important Hindu festivals observed by married women in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. As part of the festivities, ghevar – a sweet preparation made by deep-frying a batter in ghee and soaking in sugar syrup, is considered to be a keystone preparation for the occasion. The dessert dish which appears porous, has a honeycomb-like texture and crunch – making it ideal to store when the monsoon season comes with its share of food-storage challenges.
Over the years, with the symbolism of the ghevar intact, chefs have gone on to experiment with recipes where fusion concepts have been combined to create upgraded versions of the sweet dish. From ghevar tartlets to cheesecake and even flavoured ghevar variations, anyone interested in trying out the dish, has a whole world of varieties to choose from. This teej, we bring you two delicious fusion recipes to try at home; not only are these recipes simplistic and approachable, but they also work for those who aren’t looking to do anything too labour-intensive on the festival day. Mumbai-based chef Ruffy Shaikh and Jaipur-based Cauldron Sisters talk to Slurrp about the inspiration for their recipes and share ideas on how to elevate the ghevar experience.
Millet Ghevar
Image Credits: Justdial
Senior Sous Chef Ruffy Shaikh at the ITC Grand Central in Mumbai believes that the ‘Year of the Millet’ is the perfect opportunity to discover the untapped potential of millet and through that, sustainable agriculture. Shaikh, whose earliest memories of enjoying ghevar include sharing the sweet with his childhood friend from Rajasthan, has now gone a step further to create a fusion dish inspired by the ‘small but mighty’ adage and spinning the use of millet. Shaikh finds the honeycomb-like texture to be most fascinating and also adds that preparing the Teej special dessert with millets increases the nutritional value and makes it a healthy option for people looking for guilt-free indulgences.
Ingredients [For Ghevar]
- 150 grams all-purpose flour
- 150 grams millet flour
- 300 ml ghee
- 500 ml water
- 100 ml milk
- 200 grams grain sugar
- 2 ice cubes
Ingredients [For Toppings]
- 5 grams green cardamom
- 10 grams almonds, chopped
- 1 gram saffron strands
- 4 pieces silver vark
Method
- Boil the water and sugar to make a syrup until you get to a one string consistency. Add Ghee to sugar syrup with ice cube one at a time till the ghee becomes white in colour.
- To make the ghevar batter add milk, both types of flour and one cup water till you get a runny consistency. In an aluminium cylindrical container with a height of at least 10-12 inches and a diameter of around 7-8 inches and heat ghee in it.
- Once the ghee is hot enough add the batter in batches in the centre of kadhai and allow the foam to settle, and cook them one at a time. When the foam settles down, make hole in the centre with help of a skewer and lift the cooked ghevar carefully to place on a cooling rack.
- Dip the ghevar in hot syrup and place it back on cooling rack to discard any extra syrup. Once it cools down garnish with silver vark , chop nuts, saffron, cardamom powder.
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Chocolate Ghevar
Image Credits: Cauldron Sisters
When siblings Richa Khetan and Ratika Bhargava decided to put ghevar on the map using their vegetarian gourmet and fusion cooking skills, Ratika shares fond memories of growing up eating the sweet while in Jaipur. To the siblings, ghevar is a reminder of the famous Hawa Mahal – thanks to the perforated jaalis that the tourist attraction and festive sweet share in common. The idea to create fusion ghevar recipes struck the sisters in 2018, when they first began creating mini tarlets of ghevar which was easy to pick and eat. They also came up with various flavours like strawberry cheesecake, tiramisu, rose and chocolate – among others, setting a trend for sweet shops to follow. What’s most interesting about the recipe shared by the Cauldron Sisters, is that you could just as easily spruce up store-bought ghevar with a little whisk and transform it into something special. Ratika says that the chocolate ghevar recipe is easily her pick over brownies!
Ingredients
- 4 pieces ghevar
- 1 cup cooking chocolate, grated
- 1 cup heavy cream
Method
- Boil the cream and pour it over the chocolate. Mix well until the chocolate melts fully and allow it to come to room temperature before refrigerating.
- Using a spatula or spoon, apply the ganache to your ghevar and top up with fruits and nuts of your choice.