We are making Rava Ghughra with all-purpose flour with the filling of rava or semolina, Coconut and dry fruits. It is a trendy sweet dish in the Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra and is served during Diwali, Holi or special festive occasions, including Raksha Bandhan.


Another name for ghughra is gujiya, so Rava Ghughra is also known as Rava Gujiya.

The taste and sweetness of Ghughra will surely make your festive days more memorable. We can guarantee that people of all ages will love this dish during family/festive gatherings. Not to forget, this sweet is one of the favourite dishes of sweet gujjus!

Variations of Rava Ghughra

Rava Ghughra itself is a variation of Mawa Ghughra.

A famous version of Ghughra is Coconut and Mawa. However, in our Gujiya, we are using Coconut as well.

Adding chocolate to sweets is a trend in modern times. So Gujiya has also been a part of the chocolate family. And people seem to love the chocolaty version of Gujiya.

Hazelnut has also made its way into the Gujiya variations, giving the dish a fusion touch.

I recently found apple gujiya and gulkand gujiya have also entered the game.

Talking about the festival dishes of Gujarat, you can’t miss the Ghari. So check out the Surti Ghari recipe this season.

We are frying the gujiya, but you can also prepare it by baking it but let’s keep this recipe as frying and baking it for some other day.

TR’s extra shots:

  • Replacing sugar with jaggery can also create an excellent and healthier taste if you want to go sugar-free.
  • Adding pistachio or raisins, along with spices like cardamom, can help bring out the essence of traditional taste.
  • We have also eliminated the mawa, which makes it vegan.

Gujiya in other cultures:

The love for Gujiya extends to northern India and southern India too. It is known as pedakiya in Bihar, an offering in chhath.

South India knows it by many names, such as Somas in Tamil, Garijalu and Kajjikayalu in Telugu, and Karjikayi in Kannada. The locals prepare this sweet with cheese-based fillings as well.

While being used in Hindu culture as an offering during Ganesh Chaturthi and other traditional and regional festivals. During Christmas, many Christian households in India prepare this dish. Christians call it Nevri or Neuri.

So far, we have discussed Gujiya in Indian cultures, but you will be surprised to know that similar dishes like Gujiya are famous internationally too! Known as empanada in Spain, other south European countries, and the South/Latin American countries. 

The dish is famous in several countries, prepared as a sweet and spicy food filled with veggies. Argentina, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Southern Italy, and The United States of America are some countries where it is famous.

Meanwhile, it may not taste similar, but some countries like Russia and Mongolia have dishes that look resembling Gujiya! Known as Pirozhki in Russia and Khuushuur in Mongolia. These cultures also have a variety of fillings for their version of Gujiya, some of which are sweet! This dish has significance in Jewish culture too! Some of these variations contain meat too.