Malai Ghevar

Malai Ghevar is a Rajasthani sweet delicacy. It is a disc-shaped dessert loaded with a thick layer of malai. This mouth-watering dessert has the texture of a honeycomb and tastes sweeter than honey! Stuff a piece into your mouth and revel in the sweetness of the ghevar while the malai works its magic on your tastebuds. While it is traditionally enjoyed all year round, it is an essential part of Teej and other festivities when people exchange ghevar in its varying forms to make these occasions ever more special and memorable.

Health Benefits

Malai, it must be noted, is rich in calcium and vitamins.

Ingredients

1 cup ghee or clarified butter

3 cup all-purpose flour or maida

½ cup chilled milk

1/8 tsp yellow food color

5 cups Chilled water

2 ½ cups Ghee or oil — for frying

1 tbsp chopped pistachios

1 L full cream milk

1 cup sugar

4 strands of saffron

¼ tsp cardamom powder

1 cup water

1 ¼ cup sugar

How To Make Malai Ghevar

For Sugar Syrup

• Heat water in a pan. On boiling, add sugar to the water.
• Heat on medium flame till the syrup is of one thread consistency. This means that when you put a drop of syrup between your finger and thumb and pull the finger apart, a thread should be formed. Remove the syrup from the flame.

For Malai

• Heat milk in a thick bottomed pan. On boiling, reduce the flame to low.
• Keep stirring the milk so that it doesn’t stick to the pan. Add sugar to the milk when it reduces to ¹/₃ in quantity. Mix well.
• Add cardamom powder and saffron to the thickened milk.
• Boil on low flame for another 5 minutes while stirring.

For Ghevar

• Whisk the milk and ghee till fluffy. Add flour and food color. Mix well.
• Add water slowly and make a smooth runny batter without lumps. Heat ghee in a small saucepan over a high flame.
• Pour a ladle of batter in the center of the pan at a fast speed when the ghee is hot. Do not reduce the flame. When the bubbles settle down, pour another ladle on top of the batter in the pan.
• Repeat the process till the batter is an inch high in the pan. Make a hole in the center of the batter with the back of the ladle.
• Fry the ghevar at high flame until golden brown. Remove the ghevar from oil and place on a rack to drain.
• Place the ghevar in the warm sugar syrup. Let it soak for 2 minutes. Remove and place on a plate.
• Top the ghevar with a thick malai and pistachios.

Trivia

Malai ghevar is from the colorful Rajasthani cuisine. Interestingly enough, almost all cities in Rajasthan are color coded. Jaipur sports the use of pink, for example, while Jhalawar is purple. Jodhpur is blue and Udaipur features white prominently!