Ghari

Ghari (ઘારી) is a round sweet from Surat, Gujarat, coated in a white layer of fat. A thin wheat pastry encloses a filling of mawa (milk cooked down), nuts and sugar; after it is fried in ghee or a similar fat, it is given a further outer coating of ghee. The layers of thin pastry, rich milk filling and white outer coat can also be seen in a cut cross-section.

Ghari arranged on a tray. Photo: Dhwalin, 2012, location unknown. Original image used (source, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Frying fat and a white coating

Ghee is used both to cook the dough and to finish the surface. The fried pastry on its own would make a brown sweet, but once the fat applied afterward sets, the sweet takes on a white, round form. The mawa inside consists of milk solids from cow’s milk with the water reduced, to which pistachios, almonds, cardamom and the like are added. For the white finish, some methods mix powdered sugar into the ghee and spread it on.

Ghee in a bowl. Photo: Neha Sonal, 2015, location unknown. Original image used (source, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Mawa (khoya) in a bowl. Photo: Miansari66, year and location unknown. Uses the brightness-adjusted version by Hohum published on Commons (source; public domain).

The pastry is shaped so that it is not too thick, yet still strong enough to hold the filling. The ghee on the outside and the milk filling inside are both dairy-based, but their textures are not the same. The smoothness of the outer coating and the dense texture of the filling, which contains sugar and nuts, are enjoyed together.

A city’s sweet for a moonlit night

Ghari is closely associated with Chandni Padvo, the day after Sharad Purnima in autumn. In Surat, families and friends have a custom of gathering outdoors to eat ghari together with a savory snack called bhusu. Places where the moon can be viewed, such as the seaside or rooftops, also serve as settings for this meal.

Some bhusu mixes include sev (thin fried noodles), fried poha, small fried balls and the like. In this pairing, the richly sweet ghari and the salty, spiced bhusu are eaten in turn.

The legend of serving it to soldiers

There is a story that confectioners in Surat served ghari to the forces of Tatya Tope, known for his part in the Rebellion of 1857. In one version, a confectioner named Devshankar offered ghari to Tope when he came to Surat, and Tope, who liked it, asked him to prepare it for his soldiers as well. In another version, Tope is said to have taught the confectioner how to make the sweet. These stories have been handed down as legends about the bond between the city and ghari, but they cannot on their own be treated as a record proving how the sweet was invented.

Besides ghari centered on mawa, versions with added pistachios or almonds are also sold. On festival days, ghari comes not only from sweet shops; some is also made by local organizations for their members.

Glossary