Making 'chaats' & tarts with 'ghewar'

As chutneys replace 'rabdi' and pistachio, the honeycombed sweet gets a makeover

- Poorvi Singhal

In August, the undisputed monarch of mithais is ghewar. Crowned with rabdi and laden with pistachios, this six-inch disc of a dessert heralds the Teej and Raksha Bandhan celebrations.

The shell of the ghewar is made of all-purpose flour, gram flour and desi ghee, which is topped with mawa or soaked in sugar syrup. Traditionally, the four varieties of ghewar are: plain, soaked in sugar syrup; unsweetened; plain, topped with rabdi; and paneer ghewar, in which the batter is mixed with paneer. But now one can find the honeycombed sweet seeping into the world of pastries and chaats.