Hello and welcome back to our debut blog series! Last time, we explored the bustling cities of Punjab and made our way through the dizzying variations of Basant celebrated across the province. Now, we will be journeying southward via the Indus River to the land of the Thar Desert and abundant farms which produce the trademark Sindhri mango. Home to the largest city of Pakistan, Sindh prides itself for hosting the financial hub of our country as well as being the second-largest economy after Punjab. During the last two weeks of February, Sindhis come together to celebrate the Horse and Cattle Show, also known as Jashn-e-Larkana or Jashn-e-Shikarpur. The festival has been celebrated for more than a hundred years in cities such as Jacobabad, which will mark the 150th celebration in 2022.
As locals make their way to the many melas held across the province, they take in the sight of farm animals dressed in their best attire adorned with jingling jewelry. Street vendors take advantage of the joyous mood of crowds to sell handmade handicrafts, artwork, and various snacks. One such signature methai is gheeyar or Sindhi jalebi. Also enjoyed during the time of Holi, gheeyar is a sweet snack sure to bring a smile to anyone’s face. Although it takes some practice to get it to look and taste as if it were fresh off the cart of an experienced vendor, we are sure that you will be able to perfect the recipe in no time with our special Comelle Desi Ghee! Since jalebi tends to be on the sweet sugary side, you can also prepare a tall glass of namkeen lassi with our Millac Dahi to have that perfect balance of sweet and savory.
Recipe
Gather the following ingredients:
- Comelle Desi Ghee 2 tbsp
- All-purpose flour 250g
- Sour curd 1 cup
- Saffron coloring, few drops according to preference
- Sugar 500g or according to taste
- Cooking oil
- Rose essence, few drops according to preference
- Rose petals (optional)
- Pistachios or nuts of choice (optional)
Directions:
- In a pot, begin preparing the batter by warming desi ghee on low heat.
- Slowly add the curd and flour, mixing occasionally.
- Add water, one tablespoon at a time and mix regularly. Stop once the mixture has reached a pancake-like batter consistency.
- Now add the saffron coloring, stopping when you reach your desired color. Generally, gheeyar looks dark orange after cooking, so the batter should look a few shades lighter than a mosambi to avoid a burnt look.
- Let the batter stand for 15 minutes by removing it from the heat.
- Begin assembling the syrup by boiling one cup of water with sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Remove from heat and add rose essence as desired.
- Before you begin frying, prepare a piping bag and fill it with the batter.
- In a large karhai, heat your oil and lower your heat just as it begins bubbling.
- Now set the heat to medium, and begin piping out the spirals in a circular manner. If you would like, you can also use a metal circle frying aid for aesthetics.
- Fry until it is crispy but make sure that the color doesn’t look burnt!
- Immerse the gheeyar in the syrup mix for a few seconds, then transfer to a serving dish.
- Garnish with rose petals and pistachios if you so wish.
- That’s it! Now enjoy your hard work in the company of your loved ones.
We hope that this gheeyar is to your liking, but if not, you can always make your way to the Sindh Horse and Cattle shows to learn from the experts and take in the beautiful sights! Join us next time as we journey north to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to learn how some of the coldest areas in Pakistan welcome spring.