Gola, in English it can be known as shaved ice or crushed ice. It is an ice based dessert. In Pakistan, it is very popular among people especially children get attracted towards it easily because of its colorful and catchy look. It is not difficult to find it in Pakistan especially in summers where you can see hawkers and carts of gola in streets. Another reason of its popularity is that it is not expensive like other desserts or ice creams so people of all groups can afford it easily. Not just in Pakistan, it is very famous in many other countries as well.
It is said that the first time this dessert was made in 27 B.C.E. Nero the Roman Emperor used to ask his slaves to bring the snow from the nearby mountains and he used to eat that snow after pouring the fruit juice and mixed honey on it. Similar story can be traced to Japan where wealthy people living in warm areas near to snow capped mountains used to send poor people on those mountains to fetch snow from there that they used to have after adding flavor to it. The Japanese brought this tradition with them to Hawaii after migrating there. Japan. Hawaii and Rome are those warm areas that are very close to snow capped mountains from where snow could be brought without melting.
There are many machines available in markets to crush ice for gola. First of all, ice is finely crushed and after that, sweet fruity flavors are poured on it to make it sweet. It is the simplest form of gola. There many other ingredients that can be added to make gola more tasty and tempting. Basic ingredients are crushed ice and the flavored juice. Many people add jellies, dry fruits, condensed milk, coconut milk, jams, canned fruits etc.
There are many ways to serve gola. The one way that is usually adopted by the people is giving it a shape like a lollypop. To give such shape, after crushing the ice it is put into a mold and a stick is placed in ice and then by pressing the ice with the stick in it a solid form is given to it and then flavored and colorful juice is poured on it. It can be served in a cup, glass or plate as well with extra topping of different jellies, canned fruits etc.
