Gujarat is the land of Lord Krishna and Mahatma Gandhi and is situated
on the Western Coast of India and has a 100 Km long Arabian sea-coastline
with a total area of around 1,96,000 Sq Km. Gujarat ranks 10th in
population (~42 million) and 9th in area among the states of the Indian
Union. Gujarat gets its name from "Gujjar Rashtra", the land of the Gujjars,
a migrant tribe who came to India in the wake of the invading Huns in the
5th century. The history of Gujarat dates back to 2000 BC.
The present state of Gujarat was formed on 1st May 1960 as a result of
Bombay Reorganization act, 1960. The state is bounded by the Arabian
Sea on the west, Pakistan and Rajasthan in the north and north-east respectively,
Madhya Pradesh in the south east and Maharashtra in south.
Gujarat is the only vegetarian state in India. Majority of Gujaratis of are staunch vegetrians. Geographically Gujarat can be divided into four regions North Gujarat, Kathiawad, Kutch, and South Gujarat. There are slight variations in eating habits and modes of preparation, because of the climactic and cultural differences. Certain ingredients like yoghurt, buttermilk, cocnut, groundnut, sesame seeds, lime juice, sugar etc. are very common in Gujarati food.
Gujarati cuisine is unlike any other Indian cuisine. It is traditionally served on silver platters to the accompaniment of rice and a variety of wheat breads. There are few people who do not relish Gujarati savouries such as crisp spicy fried farshans, which can be bought in wayside stalls. The famous Gujarati thali served at weddings consists of farshans, sweetmeats and a variety of sweet and sour chutneys and pickles. This harmony derived from the mixing of the sweet with the salty is what makes the cooking of this state different from the rest of the Indian Continent.
Gujaratis are very fond of snacks known as Farshan. These are prepared in many different ways. Chivda is considered to the best of these Farshans and is popular in many other states. Please visit the following web sites for recepies of Gujarati food.
http://www.gujaratplus.com/g_rec/index.html
http://www.suratifarsan.com/index1.htm
http://members.iquest.net/~vepachedu/vegresource.html
This page is dedicated to the innocent women and children charred to death in Godhra train carnage in Gujarat and the innocnet Hindus and Muslims that died later in the Hindu-Muslim clashes.
Sreenivasarao Vepachedu
http://members.iquest.net/~vepachedu
One World One Family