Guna recipe, Guna for Gangaur festival

Gangaur is the colorful and extremely important festival of Rajasthan, celebrated in honor of Mother Gauri. In the word Gangaur, ‘Gan’ is a synonym for Lord Shiva and ‘Gaur’ for Goddess Gauri/Parvati who is the consort of Lord Shiva.

This festival is celebrated throughout Rajasthan with great devotion by women who worship Isarji and Gaura- Lord Shiva and Parvati respectively. Goddess Gauri is considered as the goddess of marital bliss and happiness. Colorful images of Gauri, beautifully dressed and bejeweled are taken out in procession accompanied by the town band.

Gangaur is celebrated every year during the Hindu month of Chaitra (march/april). It commences on the day following Holi and continues for 16 days.

In Marwari culture, unmarried girls as well as married women celebrate Gangaur festival and observe fast on this day. Unmarried girls worship gauri for being blessed with good husband, while married women worship to seek her blessings for the happy married life. During this festival, women put mehendi (heena) on hands and dress up beautifully and usually gets gift from their husband.

Women observe fast during this festive time and eat only once at lunch right after the Gangaur puja. On the conclusion of Gangaur festival, girls enjoy feast with different variety of festive food like Ghewar, churma, feeni etc.

Apart from halwa-puri or kheer-puri, Gune or Guna are specially made for Gangaur to offer during puja on main day. After the puja, women and girls break their fast with guna first, followed by lunch.

There is a lot to write and share about this festival, but let me share with you the recipe of main bhog/Prasad offered during the puja- Guna/Gune. This sweet has a long shelf life, so it can be consumed and enjoyed as a snack later after the festival as well. There are two types of guna – one made with sugar and other with jaggery. Both of them are equally delicious.

Step by step recipe of Guna/Gune:

Take 2 cups Maida/refined flour in a wide mixing bowl and add ¼ cup ghee to it.

Mix them together until it looks like bread crumb.

Now add water little at a time and knead a stiff dough.

Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes. Cover it and keep aside.

After resting, knead the dough once. Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll it. Place the dough ball over a rolling board.

Roll out the dough equally into 10 inch diameter, keeping the thickness of about ½ cm.

Cut the rolled dough into 1 inch wide strips.

Take one of the strip and roll it against your finger giving it a round shape of guna. The extra dough left  after the finger round should be removed. Apply a bit of water at the ends and join them to form guna shape. The leftover strip can be used to make another guna.

Likewise make all the gunas. Also roll the other dough ball and make gunas.

Take ghee in a pan or wok. When it is medium hot, gently and carefully place the gunas  in the wok. Fry the gunas from all the sides until they are golden brown in color. Keep the flame on medium low.

Take out the fried gunas in a plate and fry rest all gunas in batches.

Sugar syrup-

Take 1 cup sugar in a pan, add 1/3 cup of water to it.

Cook the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved in water.

After cooking 4-5 minutes on low flame, check the syrup. The syrup should have stick and gooey consistency. Take a drop of the cooked syrup in a plate. Then using your index finger and thumb pull apart the syrup. If there is formation of 1-2 threads, the syrup is ready. Turn off the flame.

Meanwhile the gunas have been cooled. Dip them in the syrup. The syrup should coat the gunas from all the sides.

After a minute or so, take them out in a separate plate. Similarly coat all the gunas with sugar syrup.

Let the gunas cool sown for a while. It can be stored in an airtight container and consumed upto 3-4 weeks.

Guna recipe below:

Guna recipe Prep time Cook time Total  20 min  30 min  50 min Guna- A sugar coated Indian sweet, offered to God during the Gangaur Puja. AUTHOR: Monali RECIPE TYPE: Snack, Indian sweet CUISINE: Indian, Rajasthani SERVES: 20 Guna INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup=237 ml) 2 cup Maida/Refined flour ¼ cup Ghee Ghee for frying Sugar syrup- 1 cup Sugar 1/3 cup Water DIRECTION Take Maida/refined flour in a wide mixing bowl and add ghee to it. Mix them together until it looks like bread crumb. Now add water little at a time and knead a stiff dough. Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes. Cover it and keep aside. After resting, knead the dough once. Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll it. Place the dough ball over a rolling board. Roll out the dough equally into 10 inch diameter, keeping the thickness of about ½ cm. Cut the rolled dough into 1 inch wide strips. Take one of the strip and roll it against your finger giving it a round shape of guna. The extra dough left  after the finger round should be removed. The leftover strip can be used to make another guna. Likewise make all the gunas. Also roll the other dough ball and make gunas. Take ghee in a pan or wok. When it is medium hot, gently and carefully place the gunas  in the wok. Fry the gunas from all the sides until they are golden brown in color. Keep the flame on medium low. Take out the fried gunas in a plate and fry rest all gunas in batches  Sugar syrup- Take 1 cup sugar in a pan, add 1/3 cup of water to it. Cook the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved in water. After cooking 4-5 minutes on low flame, check the syrup. The syrup should have stick and gooey consistency. Take a drop of the cooked syrup in a plate. Then using your index finger and thumb pull apart the syrup. If there is formation of 1-2 threads, the syrup is ready. Turn off the flame.  Meanwhile the gunas have been cooled. Dip then in the syrup. The syrup should coat the gunas from all the sides. After a minute or so take them out in a separate plate. Similarly coat all the gunas with sugar syrup. Let the gunas cool sown for a while. It can be stored in an airtight container and consumed upto 3-4 weeks.  NOTES Traditionally the gunas are fried in ghee, as these made as Prasad for Gangaur puja.  But if you want you can used refined oil to fry them. Frying gunas will take time. Remember to keep the flame low to medium or else it will be under cooked from inside. While coating the gunas, if the syrup turns very thick, and then heat it again. The gunas should always be coated with hot to warm syrup.