The Giant Gohana Jalebi – Gurgaon’s Best Kept Secret

Gohana is a small town in Haryana, part of Sonipat district, 2 hours by drive from Gurgaon. The town is popular for the giant sized jalebi which was started by Maturam Halwai, an 80 year old sweet shop. The Gohana jalebi is made in ghee and the giant ones are special. They are crisp on the outside, juicy inside and delicious. In that part of the world, no one makes regular or small size jalebi. Only the giant ones. Each jalebi is 250 grams and it’s tough to finish one whole jalebi in one go. But they are addictive, so you keep nibbling from time to time.

In 2019, I found this small shop by the name Gohana Special Jalebi in the Sector 23 HUDA market in Gurgaon. Sector 23 is in the older part of Gurgaon. On the other side of the highway and not in the swanky part, as we now know Gurgaon to be. They make the giant size Gohana jalebi on order. You’ve to specifically ask for the big jalebi, else they usually make the smaller one and keep. The smaller ones are like any other regular jalebi, but the big ones are special. You’ll need to order a minimum of 1 kilogram for the big jalebi and 4 pieces come in a kilogram. They charge ₹480 per kilogram, which’s on the higher side compared to a regular jalebi, but the quality and taste are well worth the price.

The Special Gohana Jalebi

The Gohana Famous Jalebi shop in Sec 23 is actually not from Gohana but from the neighbouring town of Jind. They get their ghee from Jind and that makes all the difference. Gohana jalebi is becoming famous in Gurgaon and there are now many shops claiming to be original. You’ll also find a number of them on Swiggy and Zomato, but none of them do the proper Gohana style giant jalebi.

And be careful when you’re travelling and taking the giant jalebi with you. I was once stopped by security at Delhi airport saying I had a snake in my bag. The guy wasn’t letting me open the bag, saying that how can a jalebi be so big in size. This has to be a snake. I finally convinced him, opened the bag and showed him the jalebi. The packaging for the jalebi is good by the way and it travels well.

Happy jalebi hunting and chowder on!