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Desserts & mithaiPunjabi recipes

Gur Wale Chawal Recipe

گڑ والے چاول بنانے کا طریقہ

Punjabi gur wale chawal: basmati par-boiled, then steamed in a dark jaggery syrup with ghee, fennel and cardamom, a warm winter sweet with deep caramel flavour.
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Illustration of Gur Wale Chawal

Prep

10 min

Cook

35 min

Marinate / soak

30 min

Serves

5

Difficulty

Easy

Spice

Mild

Gur wale chawal is the village cousin of zarda, made in Punjab when the new season's gur comes out of the belna in winter. Instead of sugar and colour, the rice is cooked in melted jaggery, which turns it a natural deep brown and gives a toffee-like sweetness. Fennel seeds and cardamom in hot ghee, plus a handful of nuts and coconut, are all it needs.

Ingredients

5 servings

For 5 servings

Measures

To boil the rice

For the gur syrup

Method

  1. Soak the washed rice in water, then drain.

    ⏱ 30 min

  2. Melt the gur in three-quarters of a cup of water on low heat, stirring, until fully dissolved. Strain through a fine sieve to remove any grit.

    ⏱ 5 min

  3. Bring the boiling water to a rolling boil, add the rice and cook until three-quarters done, with a firm centre. Drain.

    ⏱ 6 min

  4. Heat the ghee in a heavy pan on medium heat. Add the fennel, cardamom and cloves and fry until fragrant, then add the almonds, walnuts, coconut and raisins and fry until lightly golden.

    ⏱ 2 min

  5. Pour in the gur syrup and let it bubble for a minute, then add the rice and fold gently until every grain is coated.

    ⏱ 1 min

  6. Cook on medium heat until the syrup is mostly absorbed, then cover tightly and put on dum on the lowest heat until the rice is soft and glossy.

    ⏱ 15 min

  7. Fluff gently from the sides and serve warm.

Tips for the best result

  • Gur sweetness varies a lot between batches; taste the syrup and add a spoon of sugar or more gur if needed.
  • Darker gur gives a deeper colour and stronger flavour; pale gur makes milder, lighter rice.

Common mistakes

  • Not straining the melted gur. Desi gur often has bits of cane fibre or grit that end up in the rice.
  • Boiling gur syrup hard for long. It thickens into toffee and the rice turns hard and sticky.

How to serve

Serve warm on a winter afternoon, on their own or with a spoon of desi ghee or fresh cream on top.

Storing and reheating

Keeps 3 days in the fridge. Warm covered on low heat with a sprinkle of water.

Nutrition and cost

Worked out from the ingredients, not measured in a lab. Treat both as a rough guide.

Per serving Estimate

Calories
525kcal
Protein
5g
Fat
14g
Carbs
95g
Fibre
1.7g
Sodium
20mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), public domain values for the raw ingredients (100% of the recipe by weight had data). Deep-frying oil is counted at 20%; bones and water lost in cooking are not subtracted, so bone-in and fried dishes can read high. Not medical advice. Method

Cost per servingEstimate

≈ Rs 23

Whole dish ≈ Rs 115 · 86% of ingredients by weight priced

From the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics weekly SPI, week ended 29 Oct 2026. Spices, herbs and some vegetables are not in the SPI and are left out unless you add your price, so the real cost is a little higher. How this works

Gur Wale Chawal: questions people ask

Why are my gur wale chawal sticky?

The rice was boiled too long before going into the syrup, or it was stirred hard. Boil only to three-quarters, drain well and fold gently.

Can I cook gur wale chawal in milk?

Yes, but add the gur at the very end with the heat off, because hot jaggery can split milk.

Can I use shakkar instead of gur?

Yes. Shakkar (powdered jaggery) dissolves faster; use the same weight and still strain the syrup.

Serve it with, and similar recipes

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Read this recipe in Urdu: گڑ والے چاول بنانے کا طریقہ

https://handi.danixsoft.com/recipes/gur-wale-chawal · Handi, DanixSoft