Surti Ghari- A Delightful Sweet Dish Topped With Pista For Hearty Festive Feasting

Gujarati cuisine presents a rich blend of flavours for all the food enthusiasts. From sweet dishes to snacks, with a vegetarian-centric approach, Gujarat has been offering delights to suit every palate. Although a typical Gujarati thali includes khandvi, dhokla, khichdi, curries and more for a healthy and hearty meal, you can add a twist to your food menu by adding traditional Gujarati dishes for a change.Come festive season, we all start thinking about various dishes to celebrate the spirit of the festival and nothing can go wrong when we end our meals on a sweet note. Besides the simple and easy dishes, the cuisine embodies delightful, sweet dishes that you can enjoy at home. With simple preparation steps, add delight to this festive season with a delectable Gujarati sweet dish ‘Surti Ghari’ that is prepared with a rich covering, filling and glazing.Also Read:

History Of The Gujarati Surti Ghari SweetThe history of this traditional Surti ghari is closely linked with the culture and heritage of Gujarat. Renowned for its delightful pistachio filling, this sweet dish is deep-fried to perfection and later glazed with ghee and sugar for a delightful taste. The Gujarati delicacy has spread beyond Surat and managed to make its way to other significant festivals as well. History says that during the first struggle for independence, a local man Devshankar Shukla was asked to prepare this sweet delicacy for Tatya Tope to provide enough strength to the freedom fighters to fulfil their mission back in 1857 on a full moon day.

Another popular story around Gujarati ghari is many Gujaratis kept a fast on Sharad Purnima and for breaking the fast, they savoured ‘DoodhPooha’ which is perfectly reminiscent of Ghari. This Surti sweet dish- Ghari is now exported to many other parts of the world and sweet shops observe long queues to relish this sweet dish on Chandani Padwa. Ghari is widely relished during the Chandani Padwa festival which falls on the day after Sharad Purnima according to the Hindu calendar. This popular festival is celebrated by the Surati people and incorporates various salty and sweet dishes on full moon day. Another anecdote claims that the sweet dish is also consumed on inauspicious occasions as well. This delicious and visually appealing Surti Ghari is now available in various other flavours for healthy feasting including mawa malai, kesar badam, kaju mango and more.Also Read: Surti Ghari Recipe

Prepared with a blend of easily available ingredients, follow these simple steps and enjoy your dish. IngredientsFor the Layer

• 1 cup maida
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 tbsp melted ghee

For the filling

• 1 cup crushed pistachio
• 1 cup crushed almonds
• 2 cups khoya
• 2 tbsp besan
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tsp milk

For frying

• 1 ½ cup oil + ¼ cup ghee

Also Read: For glazing

• 1/3 cup ghee
• ¾ cup sugar

MethodStep 1: Start by preparing the dough with maida, milk and ghee in a mixing bowl. Allow it to set for 20-25 minutes.Step 2: Next, for the stuffing, start by frying Besan and rava in ghee for about 4-5 minutes. Add khoya and cook the mixture for 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a plate and stir sugar and cardamom powder. Mix everything and divide the mixture into 2 equal-sized balls. Step 3: Stir crushed almonds and saffron to one portion and crushed pistachio to the other. With the help of milk, bind both the mixtures and pinch small balls from them. Flatten the almond ball in between your palm and keep the pista ball in the centre. Cover the mixture nicely.Step 4: Remove the extra portion and deep fry in ghee on low-medium flame. Allow it to cool down for about 4-5 hours. Once the ghari is cooled and has come to room temperature, melt the ghee and add sugar to it. Step 5: Whip the mixture lightly and dip each ghari in ghee and set aside for 12 hours to become firm. Garnish with pista and cut each ghari into 4 pieces. Serve and enjoy!