Local Dishes

1. ઢોકળા

   dhokla

   Dhokla (steamed savoury cake of fermented rice and gram)

   Usage

   A steamed, low-oil snack. Made mainly from rice and chana dal. ⚠ The yellow cake sold as "dhokla" outside Gujarat is a different dish, khaman — in Gujarati the two are entirely separate. The plural spelling ઢોકળાં means the same thing

2. ખમણ

   khaman

   Khaman (yellow steamed cake made from gram flour)

   Usage

   Gram flour mixed with buttermilk, steamed, then tempered with sesame, green chilli and grated coconut. This version is called "nylon khaman", distinct from a ground-dal version, "vati dal na khaman". This is the yellow cake most travellers picture when they hear "dhokla"

3. ખાંડવી

   khaandvi

   Khandvi (thin rolls of gram flour cooked with buttermilk)

   Usage

   Made from very fine gram flour (sold as "fine besan") and buttermilk. It is one of the traditional steamed farsan — with idada, muthiya, dhokla, panki and pandoli — that are light to digest

4. ઊંધિયું

   oondhiyu

   Undhiyu (winter mixed-vegetable dish)

   Usage

   A mixed-vegetable dish; the name comes from the Gujarati word for "upside down". It was traditionally cooked in an earthen pot buried upside down with a fire lit above it ("matla nu undhiyu"). It is a winter dish and remains popular in South Gujarat. ⚠ It may be off the menu in summer

5. હાંડવો

   haandvo

   Handvo (savoury baked cake of fermented rice and lentil batter)

   Usage

   Rice and chana-dal batter is fermented and baked over a direct flame; It is also called a "desi baked dish". Bottle gourd and other vegetables are often mixed in, and it is commonly made as a morning snack with tea. Served at room temperature

6. થેપલા

   thepla

   Thepla (spiced flatbread; keeps well, carried as travel food)

   Usage

   Wheat flour kneaded with spices, rolled like bhakhri and cooked in oil. Also called "dhebra"; the soft version keeps well thanks to the oil, so it is taken along as food for journeys. Sold as something to carry onto a long bus or train ride

7. ખાખરા

   khaakhra

   Khakhra (thin crisp roasted flatbread)

   Usage

   A roasted farsan that originated in Gujarat, named after the flour used (wheat khakhra, bajra khakhra, and so on). Usually eaten with tea but taken at any time of day; it is also eaten smeared with ghee, or with chutney or pickle

8. ફાફડા

   phaaphda

   Fafda (flat fried gram-flour snack)

   Usage

   Mostly eaten with jalebi, and flavoured with ajwain. In Saurashtra it is also called "tanela gathiya". Gujaratis celebrate Dussehra by eating fafda and jalebi, usually in the morning

9. જલેબી

   jalebi

   Jalebi (spiral fritter soaked in sugar syrup)

   Usage

   Batter fried and dipped in sugar syrup; It can be eaten hot or cold. In Gujarat it is paired with fafda and eaten in the morning. The similar imarti is redder and is a different sweet

10. ગાંઠિયા

    gaanthiya

    Gathiya (fried gram-flour sticks)

    Usage

    Gram flour with soda, pepper, salt and asafoetida, deep-fried. Common across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan; Bhavnagar is the most famous for it. ⚠ The spelling ગાંઠીયા is incorrect but widespread — that is the form you will usually see on signs

11. પાત્રા

    paatra

    Patra (rolled and steamed colocasia leaves)

    Usage

    Colocasia leaves are spread with a paste of gram flour, tamarind water and spices, rolled, steamed, then fried or tempered. A famous vegetarian farsan. Called patra in Gujarat, patrode in the Konkan and aluvadi in Maharashtra; pattarveliya is the same dish

12. સેવ ખમણી

    sev khamni

    Sev khamani (crumbled khaman topped with sev)

    Usage

    Also called amiri khamani. It began as a way of using leftovers but became a dish in its own right. ⚠ Despite the name, it looks and tastes unlike khaman: khaman is cut into squares, this is crumbled, and khamani is sweeter

13. દાળ ઢોકળી

    daal dhokli

    Dal dhokli (wheat-dough pieces simmered in lentil soup)

    Usage

    Thick wheat-dough pieces (dhokli) boiled in simmering pigeon-pea dal. It is believed to have come with Marwadis who migrated into Gujarat, and is a dish shared by Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. A one-plate meal

14. દાબેલી

    daabeli

    Dabeli (spiced mashed potato in a bun, from Kutch)

    Usage

    Also "Kutchi dabeli"; originated in the Kutch region of Gujarat. Boiled and mashed spiced potato is put between the halves of a pav bun. ⚠ The flavourings are chutneys of tamarind, date, red chilli and garlic, plus roasted spiced peanuts

15. લોચો

    locho

    Locho (soft steamed gram-flour dish from Surat)

    Usage

    A kind of farsan found only in Gujarat, specifically a Surati dish that originated and spread in Surat. ⚠ It may not appear on menus outside Surat

16. રોટલા

    rotla

    Rotla (thick flatbread of milled grain)

    Usage

    A flatbread of grain flour, water and salt. Wheat was once scarce and could not be grown in unirrigated areas, so people used whatever grain grew locally. Sometimes eaten with ghee spread on top. Distinct from wheat rotli

17. ભાખરી

    bhaakhri

    Bhakhri (coarse wheat flatbread, thicker than rotli)

    Usage

    Coarsely milled wheat flour with oil and salt, kneaded stiff, rolled thicker than rotli and cooked on a griddle. It is higher in fibre because the coarse flour keeps the bran, and Gujaratis generally eat it at the evening meal

18. કઢી

    kadhi

    Kadhi (thin yogurt- or buttermilk-based soup)

    Usage

    A soup-like dish made from yogurt or buttermilk. It is eaten with khichdi and a Gujarati thali always includes it. ⚠ It is a dairy dish — relevant if you avoid milk products

19. ખીચડી

    khichdi

    Khichdi (rice cooked together with lentils)

    Usage

    Made with rice and dal; Light to digest and simple to cook. ⚠ The plainest thing you can order when your stomach is off. Usually served together with kadhi

20. શ્રીખંડ

    shreekhand

    Shrikhand (sweet dessert of strained yogurt)

    Usage

    Yogurt is hung in a cloth to drain, then mixed with sugar, cardamom and dried fruit. It is served as the dessert with a Gujarati thali. A version with mango pulp also exists

21. બાસુંદી

    baasundi

    Basundi (milk reduced until thick, served cold)

    Usage

    Milk simmered slowly until thick, then sweetened with sugar and flavoured with cardamom, charoli nuts and saffron. Served cold. Eaten in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka

22. મોહનથાળ

    mohanthaal

    Mohanthal (fudge-like sweet of gram flour, sugar and ghee)

    Usage

    Gram flour cooked with sugar and ghee. Especially loved by Gujaratis and made for festivals and occasions. ⚠ Contains ghee, so relevant if you avoid dairy

23. સુખડી

    sukhdi

    Sukhdi (long-keeping sweet of wheat flour, jaggery and ghee)

    Usage

    Also called gol papdi. It keeps for a long time, so people once carried it when travelling far for work. Sesame and dried fruit are sometimes mixed in, with fennel sprinkled on top. A good sweet to buy for a journey

24. ઘારી

    ghaari

    Ghari (round mawa-and-ghee sweet, a speciality of Surat)

    Usage

    Specifically a Surati sweet that originated and spread in Surat. Made mainly from mawa (reduced milk) with ghee, semolina, flour and dried fruit. The sweet to buy as a Surat souvenir

25. ફરસાણ

    pharsaan

    Farsan (menu heading for savoury snacks)

    Usage

    A category, not a dish. Farsan means savoury items made from gram or other flours, eaten with tea or apart from a meal, and keeping for about a week; examples are gathiya, sev, fafda, chevdo, khakhra, bhajiya and kachori. The side served on a thali is also called farsan. Find this word as a menu heading and the snack section is under it

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