A burst of flavors, an array of colors, and a sweet tint adds up to tempting Gujarati dishes. Welcome to a part of India that not only is fond of food but adores it as a way of living. To think that Traditional Food of Gujarat worldwide is a testimony to the fact how Gujarati cuisine has hit the right notes with people all around the world. It’s only fitting that a culture which pleasures itself on being welcoming, eccentric, and full of life have at least a hint of sweetener in everything they eat.
FamousTraditional Food of Gujarat
1. Gathiya:
Straight out of the Gujarati dry snacks recipes book comes Gathiya- a deep-fried snack made of chickpea flour. The snack, after preparation, is soft, not crisp, and keeps its powdery texture. Since Gujarati dishes are deficient without a few sweeteners, the different version of this snack Mitha Gathiya. This dish ate by people while having tea in the morning, or in the evening.
2. Undhiyu:
Gujarati dishes arising from Surat have a unique flavour, preparation, and taste to it. A seasonal dish that awaits the arrival of Uttarayan in the winter month of January. The dish obtains its name from the Gujarati word ‘Undhu’ which translates into ‘upside down’. The ingredients of Undhiyu include eggplant, fried chickpea flour dumplings, bananas and beans potatoes, green peas, slow cooked to perfection with buttermilk, coconut, and spices.
3. Gujarati Khichdi:
Not very long ago, Khichdi the title of the national food of India by the government. A very common dish ate in every part of India, Gujarat also managed to create its own sort of Khichdi to feed to their taste buds. Nutritious in content, and healthy in flavours and taste, Gujarati Khichdi normally contains ingredients like rice, cereals, vegetables, and ghee. Often ate with Buttermilk, Khichdi is one of the typical Gujarati dinner recipes.
4. Dabeli:
Arose in the Kutch region of Gujarat, Dabeli or Kutchi Dabeli is a popular Gujarati cuisine snack food that is slightly similar to Bombay Vada Pav in terms of texture and composition. Inside a bread bun, ingredients like mashed potatoes, special Dabeli masala, spices, peanuts, chutney, and sev to give a delightful taste to the dish.
5. Farsan:
Farsan in Gujarati refers to ‘salty snacks. The Gujarati Farsan typically consists of a mixture of fried and dry snacks that can for a long time and consumed late.
6. Locho:
A savoury side dish that derives its name from its consistency which is pretty fragile, Locho with oil, butter, coriander, sev, spices, and onion to add a rich coating of flavours that brings about a pleasant aroma while having food.
7. Rotlo:
In the most traditional sense, Rotlo with raw white onion, green chilies, and buttermilk. This is a Gujarati food by local people in the winter season.
8. Sev Tamatar Nu Shaak:
A stormy confluence of flavours of can in every bite of the Sev Tamatar Nu Shak, one of the very few Gujarati dishes that bring a sweet, salty, tangy, and spicy flavour in one go. After sauteing diced onions and tomatoes in oil and spices, the dish and sev on top of it to get the spicy and salty flavour to the dish. Traditionally enjoyed with flat breads like Theplas, rotis, or parathas, Sev Tamatar Nu Shak is a popular dish for children in Gujarati households.
9.Gujarati Khadi:
One of the most recognizable Gujarati dishes made from buttermilk or yogurt and gram flour. An essential part of Gujarati food, Kadhi prepared in Gujarat is lighter than its variants prepared in north India. The lighter gravy by adding a few cups of water to the curd and gram flour mixture. In Gujarat, people like to consume Kadhi piping hot with Khichdi, roti, or rice.
Traditional Sweets of Gujarat:
1. Kansar:
The main ingredients of this dessert are wheat and jaggery. It is a healthy dessert as the top layer consists of ghee and sugar.
2. Shrikand:
It with hung curd. Cardamom, pistachios, almonds, saffron, and nutmegs to give the flavour. People enjoy this sweet dish during the festivals with hot puris.
3. Kaju Katli:
Kaju Katli also known as kaju barfi is a sweet dessert. Milk and sugar for making it. Some people use saffron to give it a different taste. The real taste of cashew nuts makes it a delicious sweet. It during wedding occasions.
4. Gol Papdi:
It is a very famous Gujarati dessert and in every home. People make it at any time of the year. Any special occasion to make this sweet. The main ingredients used for making this sweet dish include wheat flour, ghee, and jaggery.
5. Doodhpak:
It is another Gujarati dessert. It is a type of rice pudding. Rice, Milk, Saffron, and Nuts are the main ingredients. It with almonds. It is nutritious as it of milk and rice. The cardamom and saffron give a real taste and flavour to the dish.
6. Mohanthal:
Mohanthal is one such Gujarati food that in all the regions of Gujarat with their original taste, composition, and texture. In general, Mohanthal is a fudge-like sweet that from sweetened gram flour and added with rich flavours like saffron, cardamom and nuts like almonds and pistachios.
7. Shakarpara:
It is an addictive sweet snack that at the time of Diwali. It is easy to prepare, and some people make this dish throughout the year. There are different ways of making this dish. It can last longer as it does not contain milk.
8. Sutarfeni:
Sutarfeni is a traditional sweet dish. It includes shredded flaky rice flour that in ghee. Sugar to it to form a sweet cotton candy. Finally, chopped pistachio and almonds to garnish it. Cardamom gives a rich flavour and taste to the dish. It is a famous sweet dish in Gujarat.
9. Koprapak:
It is a nutritious and healthy sweet dish. The main ingredients are coconut, milk, khoya, sugar, and ghee. It is the best sweet dish for people who love to eat dessert after a meal.
10. Faada Lapsi:
Faada Lapsi is a dessert famous in the state of Gujarat. People make it during the festive season. Many people also make this dish when they shift to a newly built house or during wedding ceremonies. It is an amazing combination of broken wheat and cardamom. Some people add milk whereas others add water and sugar.
11. Ladoo Churma:
It is a sweet dish that kids love a lot. The main ingredients of the dish are wheat flour, semolina, almond, pistachios, ghee, warm milk, jaggery, cardamom, nutmegs, and khus-khus. The ladoo is really delicious and yummy to eat.
12. Chickoo halwa:
It is a mouth-watering sweet dish with the flavour of chickoo. It is prepared from grated chickoo fruit. Sugar and dry fruits such as almonds and pistachios to make it rich and healthy. Cardamom to the dish for giving it a unique taste and flavour. It is a delicious dessert and served after a meal. The main ingredients are chickoo, khoya, sugar, ghee, milk, cardamom, and chopped almonds and pistachios.
13. Moongdal Sheera:
It is a favourite sweet dish for all sweet lovers. It on low beam of heat and with continuous stirring. Moong dal, saffron, ghee, milk, sugar, and cardamom are the main ingredients. You can use almonds, pistachio, and saffron strands for garnishing the dish at the end.
14. Biranj:
It is a delicious and an authentic sweet dish to for the special guests. It can also during a special occasion. The main ingredients are vermicelli, milk, saffron, cardamom, and sugar. This dish has a rich taste and intense flavour of milk. Your taste buds will love the real taste of the milk and crispy vermicelli. It in many homes during the festival or Holi. It is the best treat after a heavy meal.
15. Coconut Halwa:
It is healthy sweet dish made by the Gujaratis. The flavour of coconut shredding makes the dish mouth-watering. People garnish it with the pieces of almonds and pistachios. You can also add raisins to enhance its aroma. Saffron may to give it a different colour and taste.
16. Puran Poli:
It is a traditional sweet dish made in Gujarat. It in the other states of India such as Maharashtra and Karnataka. The bread made of gram flour has a sweet filling inside. The stuffing includes jaggery, milk, coconut, ghee, nutmeg powder, and cardamom powder.
Street Food of Gujarat:
1. Khakhra:
The more people delve into Gujarati dishes, the more they realize the importance and variety of flatbreads in Gujarati cuisine. Khakhra, another type of thin flat bread, is a popular Jain cuisine made of mat bean, wheat flour, and oil. A common addition to the household Gujarati breakfast recipes, Khakhra is a very nutritious snack best enjoyed with spicy pickles or Meethi Chutney.
2. Samosa Pav:
When speaking about Indian street food one cannot miss the popular Indian snack samosa. It is a triangle cone-shaped snack stuffed with potato, chickpea mix, or a vegetable mix. Samosa pav by sandwiching delicious samosas inside a bun. This with spiced chutney and tomato sauce. While Mumbai is famous for its Vada pav, Ahmedabad’s samosa pav is an equally popular street delight. With a dash of cheese and spice-mix on both sides of the bun, samosa pav reaches a whole new level in treating your taste buds.
3. Dal Vada:
Gujarati moong dal Vada or dal Vada using split yellow and green gram-soaked over-night. The Vada batter using green chilies, ginger and garlic ground together coarsely with the lentils. This batter in ball-like shapes and served with fried green chilies and chopped onions. Dal Vada is crispy on the outside and spongy on the inside which makes it all the more delicious. Unlike other Vada’s, this one doesn’t require any chutney. Numerous stalls in Ahmadabad sell dal Vada that you can take away.
4. Fafda Jalebi:
Skip the usual rooftop restaurants just this time and try these tasty treats instead. Fafda jalebi is a plate of yummy delicacy made using two different snack items – fafda and jalebi. They together with green chilli and salad. It is a popular breakfast item in Ahmadabad where people start their day with a mix of spice and sweet in their food. Fafda using gram flour and spice-mixed dough, which into a chips-like snack. Jalebi using all-purpose flour, gram flour batter that into rings and dipped in tangy sugar syrup. These two snack items can separately or together in one plate. Fafda jalebi with salad and curd.
5. Dhokla:
Arguably the most recognizable Gujarati food, Dhokla is one of the most frequently consumed Gujarati dishes in the world. Be it early morning, late afternoon, or evening- it’s always the right time for Gujarati cuisine lovers to eat Dhokla. A spongy dish made of fermented rice and chickpeas, Dhokla with Green Chutney or Meethi Chutney. Another delicious sweet and salty Gujarati cuisine, Dhokla after frying it with mustard, cumin seeds, and curry leaves to add a rich aroma to the dish.
6. Stuffed Paratha:
When you’re exploring Ahmadabad, make sure to include tasting paratha in your list of things to do. Paratha or paratha is an Indian flatbread made from wheat flour dough and is cooked almost every day in many parts of the country. When this flatbread with a variety of spicy stuffing’s such as potato masala, paneer curry, fenugreek leaves, cauliflower stuffing and so on, it a stuffed paratha and with curd and pickle. Did you know, there are over hundreds of varieties of stuffed parathas in India. One of the popular household names in stuffed parathas is the aloo paratha made with potato stuffing. It is a frequent breakfast in Ahmadabad and a must-try delicacy.
7. Pani Puri:
There is not a celebration or a festival in the country that goes without tasting these crunchy balls of joy. Paani means water and puri is small fried hollow puri in the shape of a ping-pong ball. Paani puri by stuffing mashed potatoes or sprouts into the hollow balls and then filling it with tangy and sweet water. The Paani is a mixture of coriander leaves, green chillies, salt and tangy tamarind juice. When you stuff one whole crispy Paani puri, the spicy water explodes in your mouth and fuses with the potato stuffing while balancing out the taste. The feeling is heavenly.
8. Bhuna Gosht:
While it is a well-known fact that most food vendors in Ahmadabad sell vegetarian food as a major population of Gujaratis are vegetarian, non-vegetarian delights are equally popular. One such lip-smacking delicacy is bhuna gosht. The preparation consists of small pieces of mutton cooked in a spicy gravy made of onions and tomatoes. The juices of onion and tomatoes mix with that of the mutton. The meat gets cooked in this juice, and it turns into a velvety-soft semi-dry gravy that served as a side dish to parathas or even had with plain white rice or biryani. The Amadvadi Bhuna Gosht is a must-try for all non-vegetarian food lovers.
9. Bun Maska:
Bun Maska is a go-to snack for people in Ahmadabad and it can be prepared in quite a simple way. To make it all you need is Maska and bun. The bun in half horizontally and butter generously on both the halves to make a bun-butter sandwich. You can add a variety of additional spreads like chocolate spread, cheese spread, whipped cream, jam and so on to this sandwich. Bun Maska and kettle are the best breakfast snack combo.
10. Kulfi:
Ahmadabad as the “ice-cream capital of India”, as it is home to the country’s largest dairy brand – Amul. It will be a great miss to leave this city without trying its signature milk-based ice-cream kulfi. Kulfi by collecting evaporated milk solids, adding it to condensed or thickened milk and flavouring it with sugar, saffron, cardamom and nuts. This mixture to form kulfi. Based on the flavourings added kulfi can be of different variations such as malai kulfi, elaichi kulfi, chocolate kulfi, mango kulfi, kesar badam kulfi and so on. Kulfi is a very popular dessert available by the streets and restaurants of Ahmadabad.
11. Mutton Chaap:
Another must-have non-vegetarian delicacy is the mutton chaap. It can be prepared in two variations, fried dry snack or as a gravy-rich side dish with rice/paratha/roti. This mouth-watering dish is prepared by refrigerating mutton ribs in a marinade made of ginger-garlic paste, curd, mace powder, and salt. This marinade out of the fridge after a minimum of two hours and deep-fried. The gravy version is pressure cooked with onions, tomatoes, and spices in a soupy consistency to achieve a gravy.
12. Bhelpuri:
Bhelpuri is a snack that gives out a variety of tastes like sweet, spicy and tangy. This famous snack is prepared by mixing puffed rice, vegetables, fried savouries, spicy green chilli sauce, and tamarind sauce. Bhelpuri is a scrumptious snack that as a mild dinner by the Amadvadis. This snack tastes best when had at once after served. Hence, the street food vendors start preparing bhelpuri only after you place the order, and you are handed the crispy, yummy snack in less than two minutes.
13. Cheese tadka Maggi:
While Maggi itself is a unique Indian way of having noodles, cheese tadka Maggi is a step-further in its Indian-ness. This street special is prepared using onions, capsicum and tomato sauteed in butter and then cooked along with Maggi and its special spice mix. Amadvadi food sellers add spice powders as well as grated cheese to add an extra flavour. This delicacy with a thick layer of grated cheese topping. Enjoy hot Maggi as the grated cheese slowly melts into your plate.
14. Baraf Gola:
Baraf Gola or ice Gola is a popsicle made using crushed ice and flavouring. This refreshing popsicle is a nostalgic childhood memory for many adults today and by people of all ages. You can dip baraf in the Gola and enjoy this delicacy. Gola is available in different flavours such as blueberry, orange, grape, pineapple, lemon, kalakhatta, litchi and more. Kalakhatta is uniquely Indian infused with both tangy and spicy flavours.
15. Maggi pakora:
While we all know the feel of slurping noodles, here is a unique dish that lets you munch on noodles. Maggi pakora crispy balls of Maggi that you can have with green chutney and tomato sauce. Maggi pakora takes very little time to prepare and is an absolutely delectable dish. To make this crispy snack you have to mix half-boiled Maggi noodles with grated vegetables, Maggi spice mix, and gram flour and rice flour to make a sticky dough. This dough into small-sized balls and deep-fried. It is indeed a unique and very tasty way of having instant noodles.
16. Batata Poha:
Batata poha or potato poha using flattened rice, onion, potato, ginger, chilly and seasoning. This dish with roasted peanuts, mustard, cumin, curry leaves, coriander leaves, and asafoetida. It is a very simple dish and a fulfilling breakfast in Ahmadabad. All vegetables are sauteed along with the seasoning in oil and then poha to this mixture. Poha blends well with vegetables, spices, and salt which offers a mouth-watering taste. Batata poha along with fried green chilli and plain yogurt.
17. Methina Gota:
Methina gota is a delicious Gujrati snack served with green chutney and date-tamarind chutney or just kettle chai in Ahmadabad. This snack is prepared using methi leaves, chickpea flour, cilantro/coriander leaves, curry leaves, ginger-garlic paste, spices, little sugar and baking soda with lime. All these ingredients together and made into a dough by adding drops of water one at a time. Baking soda just before frying to ensure the fritters come out soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. The dough into small-sized balls and deep-fried in hot oil on a medium flame. Methina gota methi pakora in some places and is a true delicacy.
18. Khandvi:
Soft, mushy, light and delightful. Khandvi is one of the most likable Gujarati breakfast recipes a person can have. Khandvi gives an irresistible sweet and salty taste with a batter that consists of gram flour, salt, and sugar. Another name given to it in Marathi is ‘Suralichya vadya’ as it by Gujaratis and Maharashtrians alike.