| Bikaneri bhujia | |
| Alternate Name: | Bhujia |
| Country: | India |
| Region: | Bikaner, Rajasthan |
| Course: | Snack |
| Main Ingredient: | Vigna aconitifolia, gram flour, groundnut oil |
| Variations: | Sev |
Bikaneri bhujia, often simply called bhujia, is a crispy snack prepared by using vigna aconitifolia, gram flour and spices, originating from Bikaner, a city in the western state of Rajasthan in India. It is light yellow in colour. Bhujia has become not just a characteristic product of Bikaner, but also a generic name.[1]
Bikaneri bhujia is a cottage industry in Bikaner, Rajasthan, and provides employment to around 2.5 million people in villages of the region, especially women. Recently, it has faced competition from multinational companies like Pepsico as well as Indian snack companies, which have used the name bhujia.[2] [3] After struggling with numerous copycats over the years, in September 2010, the Indian Patent Office confirmed the geographical indication rights and a patent was issued for the brand name Bikaneri bhujia to local manufacturers of Bikaner.[4] [5] [6]
In 1877, during the reign of Maharaja Shri Dungar Singh, the first batch of bhujia was produced in the princely state of Bikaner.[7]
A dough of moth bean, garbanzo bean, gram flour and spices including powdered cellulose, salt, red chilli, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, etc. is made into the snack by pressing it through a sieve and deep frying in vegetable oil.[8]
In October 2008, Bikaneri bhujia was granted Geographical Indication protection.[9] [10] Getting the GI tag will ensure that none other than those registered as authorized users (or at most those residing inside the geographic territory) are allowed to use the popular product name, an assurance of distinctiveness in a land of a thousand cultures.