Ghevar is a crunchy and sweet dessert from Rajasthan, that is made by forming a web-like structure in ghee
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It is then layered with some khoya and dry fruits on top for a smooth and buttery layering. Initially, the dessert was only prepared in Rajasthan at the onset of monsoon. It is one of the most important facets of the Teej festival in the local community. However, due to the unique composition and flavour of this desert, it instantly travelled to the rest of the parts of the country. This led to the evolution of the conventional ghevar recipe and now India has more than one variety of ghevar. Here are some of the most delicious ghevar types that one can try this monsoon.
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* Mango Ghevar
Mango ghevar is made by taking some of the choicest mangoes and adding them in the conventional favour recipe to give it a more fruity and sweet flavour. Monsoon is anyways famous for an extremely sweet variety of makaram mangoes that are specifically available only after the first spell of rain. The pulp of these mangoes is extracted and mixed with khoya, cream, and a lot of dry fruits like pistachios, almonds, cashews, and other nuts. All of these dry fruits are chopped very finely. This helps in creating a very creamy and luscious upper topping for ghaver. The base of the gear is made from desi ghee
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* Plain Ghevar
Plain ghevar is the most original form of ghevar that doesn't have any kind of upper topping. It is simply a webbed pie-like structure that is made from sugar, syrup, all-purpose, flour, milk, and ghee. The texture of this ghevar is extremely crunchy and delightful. Also upon carefully observing this dessert, one will find that it is extremely complex in its structure. People in Rajasthan like to keep it mildly sweet so that it can be consumed as a teatime snack regularly. On the top of the ghevar, one can add some silver paper as well as petals of roses along with some dry fruits. This is a simple yet very impactful dessert.
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* Multi-Layered Ghevar
A multi-layered ghevar is a stalked dessert in which pieces of ghevar are put on top of each other very carefully. This ghevar looks very similar to a cake and is prepared in different ways. Some people like to put the conventional khoya layering on the top of each layer. Whereas some people like to go extra creative and experiment with different flavours as toppings on the top of each ghevar. The base of the ghevar is kept conventional by using the traditional ingredients to make the base. It looks very attractive and is often used by a lot of people instead of birthday cakes. This is perfect for people who like no boundaries when it comes to sweet indulgence.
* Instant Ghevar
Instant ghevar is the perfect recipe for people who want to make ghevar at home but do not have the time and the patience to cook it in its authentic form. To make this ghevar at home, one can buy ready-made rusk for ghevar from the market. A rusk is like crispy semolina webbed together. It is made from all purpose flour, milk, sugar syrup, and ghee. Some variants of this snack are also sugar free. Now this rusk can be simply immersed in some sugar syrup and then covered with a topping of choice on the top. The easiest topping to add is the one made from khoya and dry fruits that can be instantly prepared at home.
* Malai Ghevar
Malai ghevar is a rich, indulgent, and opulent variety of ghevar that is coated with a thick layer of creamy malai, khoya, milk, and even condensed milk. This ghevar has a very thick and scrumptious upper coating that has a velvety texture. Ingredients such as cardamom and saffron are also infused in all these ingredients to give a nice flavour to the ghevar. One can also add some chopped rose petals for a more floral touch. The base of the malai ghevar is kept extremely crunchy by deep-frying in ghee