Surati Ghari

Surat's most beloved festival sweet — a rich, circular pastry made of ghee-saturated refined flour fried to a pale golden crust, filled with a dense stuffing of khoya (reduced milk solids), almonds, cashews, pistachios, and cardamom, the whole sealed and fried again until fully cooked. Eaten exclusively during the Chandi Padvo festival (the fourth day after Diwali) when Surati families assemble on rooftops and in gardens to eat ghari, fly kites, and watch the full moon. The sweet is so specifically associated with Surat that it is considered the city's culinary identity marker; boxes of ghari are sent by Suratis to relatives in other cities as the most important Diwali gift. The finest gharis come from specialist halwais in Surat's old city who have made nothing else for generations.