Gujarat: Ghari sale soaring ahead of Chandani Padva

SURAT: An estimated 150 tonnes of ghari and bhusu will be consumed by people in the city on the occasion of Chandani Padva on Monday. Sumul has already sold 80 tonnes of ghari until Sunday.
Ghari, a sweet made of milk mava, sugar, herbs and maida, is consumed by people along with a mixture of sev, ganthiya, fried poha, boondi and papdi called Bhusu on Chandani Padva, a traditional festival being celebrated in Surat since ages.
Surat District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (Sumul) sold 80 tonnes of ghari last year. This year, it has so far sold off 80 tonnes of Ghari and is making another 20 tonnes. Ghari is being sold between Rs520 and Rs900 per kg and Bhusu approximately for Rs400 per kg.
Manish Bhatt, marketing manager, Sumul, said, “We are working overtime to meet the demand. We may sell 100 tonnes of Ghari this year.”
Besides Sumul and 200 other makers of this special sweet in the city, mandals of different castes like Vaishnavs, Baniyas and Ranas also make Ghari exclusively for their communities.
Dhiren Vaishnav said, “We prefer buying Ghari only from our community mandal. It is of good quality and we also get discount.”
Officers of health department of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) said they expect 150 tonnes of Ghari and 25 tonnes of Bhusu to be sold in the city on the occasion of Chandni Padva. Food inspectors have taken 20 samples of mava from different shops for testing. Ashish Naik, deputy commissioner of health, said, “We will ensure that the results of the tests of the samples are out at the earliest. The tests are being conducted at a local laboratory.”
MAVA OF SKIMMED MILK POWDER AND PALM OIL
Some people are making mava from skimmed milk powder mixed with palm oil. The manufacturing cost of this mava is Rs150 per kg as against Rs275 per kg for the one made from pure milk.
“Unscrupulous people are using skimmed milk powder and using palm oil to make mava to bring the cost down. Its ill effects are still not known,” said an officer of health department.