Authentic Gujarati Snacks in the UK - The Real Taste of Gujarat, Delivered to Your Door
There is a particular kind of joy that comes with a bowl of properly made Gujarati snacks. The kind that takes you back to a grandmother's kitchen in Ahmedabad or Surat, or to the snack tins that were always full growing up - crispy Sev, golden Gathiya, crunchy Papdi, delicate Chakri, and a cup of hot masala chai alongside. It is a flavour world that is distinctly Gujarati, impossible to replicate with anything less than the right ingredients, the right recipes and the right level of care.
At Chandra Foods, we have been making and supplying authentic Gujarati snacks in the UK since 1985. Not reimagined. Not adapted for a mass market that does not know what the original should taste like. The real thing - made to traditional recipes, using the spices, flours and methods that Gujarati snack-making has always relied on. Whether you grew up eating these snacks or you are discovering them for the first time, our range delivers the genuine article: traditional Gujarati namkeen with the flavour, texture and authenticity that this extraordinary snacking culture deserves.
Free express shipping across mainland UK on orders over £40. Browse the full range below and find your favourites.
What Makes Gujarati Snacks Different - And Why the UK Has Fallen in Love With Them
Gujarat has one of the most celebrated snacking cultures in the world. While food from other regions of India often gets more attention in the UK mainstream, anyone who has spent time in a Gujarati household - or visited Leicester, Harrow, Wembley, Birmingham or Bradford during Diwali - knows that snacks from Gujarat occupy a category entirely their own.
What sets Gujarati namkeen apart from other Indian savoury snacks is a combination of factors that work together to create something genuinely special:
- Besan (chickpea flour) as the foundation - most Gujarati savoury snacks are built on gram flour rather than wheat, giving them a distinctive flavour, a lighter texture and a naturally higher protein content than most Western snacks. This is also what makes them naturally suited to vegetarian and plant-based diets.
- A mastery of spice balance - Gujarati cooking has always been about balance: the interplay of heat, salt, a whisper of sweetness and the warmth of turmeric, ajwain (carom seeds) and hing (asafoetida). The spicing in great Gujarati namkeen is never about heat alone - it is layered, considered and deeply flavourful.
- Texture as a defining characteristic - from the fine, almost melting crunch of thin Sev to the satisfying snap of Papdi, the spiral bite of Chakri and the open, airy crunch of Gathiya, every Gujarati snack has a specific, intentional texture that is part of the eating experience
- Tea-time culture - in Gujarat, snacking is inseparable from chai. The concept of farsaan (savoury Gujarati snacks and mixes served with tea) is a daily ritual that millions of UK Gujaratis have maintained for generations - and that an increasing number of non-Gujarati UK snack lovers are discovering for the first time
- Naturally vegetarian - the entire Gujarati snack tradition is built on plant-based ingredients. No meat, no animal fats. Just flour, spices, oil and skill. This makes our range genuinely suitable as vegetarian Indian snacks for the whole family.
The UK is home to one of the largest Gujarati communities outside India, concentrated in London, Leicester, Birmingham and across the Midlands. For these communities, authentic Gujarati snacks are not a novelty - they are a connection to home, to family, to festivals, and to a way of eating that has been passed down for generations. For non-Gujarati UK shoppers discovering this world, they represent something genuinely new: healthy Indian snacks that are full of flavour, naturally plant-based, free from the ultra-processed ingredients of most supermarket snacks, and far more interesting than anything in the crisps aisle.
Our Gujarati Snacks Range - Every Classic, Made the Right Way
Every snack in our Gujarati range is made to a traditional recipe. Here is a guide to what we offer and what makes each one worth knowing:
If you know one Gujarati snack, it is almost certainly Sev. These fine, crispy strands of spiced gram flour batter, extruded and fried to a golden crunch, are the building block of the entire Gujarati snack world. Eaten alone as a tea-time snack, scattered over chaats and bhel puri, or used as a topping in dozens of dishes, Sev is the snack that defines the category. Our Sev range covers fine, medium and thick varieties - plain, spiced and masala - made to recipes that any Gujarati family would recognise immediately.
Gathiya is Sev's more substantial cousin - thicker, softer in texture and richer in flavour, made from gram flour seasoned with ajwain, hing and black pepper. It has a distinctive open, almost fluffy interior with a light crunch on the outside. Gathiya is one of those snacks that is almost impossible to eat just one of. Served with green chutney and a cup of chai, it is the quintessential Gujarati tea-time experience. Explore our Gathiya range for plain, masala and methi varieties.
Papdi are small, thin, crispy discs of spiced flour - the essential base of sev puri, dahi puri and papdi chaat, and a brilliant standalone snack in their own right. Our Papdi are made with the crunch and flavour that chaat simply cannot work without. Besan Papdi, Methi Papdi and plain varieties are all available - each one ready to eat straight from the bag or to build your favourite chaat from scratch at home.
Chakri - also known as Murukku in South India - are spiral-shaped savoury biscuits made from rice flour and gram flour, spiced with cumin, sesame seeds and chilli. The spiral shape is not just aesthetically pleasing; it creates a unique texture as you eat - a combination of outer crunch and an almost layered interior bite that no other snack replicates. Our Chakri are made to the traditional recipe: properly spiced, properly crisp and deeply flavourful. They disappear faster than almost any other snack we make.
Para (also spelled Paara or Parra) are small, diamond-shaped or rectangular fried snacks made from refined flour, spiced and fried to a satisfying, light crispness. Available in sweet, salt and spicy varieties, Para are one of the most versatile items in the Gujarati snack repertoire - equally at home as a standalone tea-time snack or as part of a mixed farsaan spread. Our Para snacks include Methi Para, Salt & Spicy Para and Sweet Para - each made to the recipe that Gujarati households have relied on for generations.
Gujarati Puri snacks are a world apart from the puffed wheat puris served with curry. These are thin, crispy, intensely flavoured rounds - Pharsi Puri, Methi Masala Puri, Pepper Puri - each with its own distinct character. Pharsi Puri is light, flaky and delicately spiced. Methi Masala Puri carries the distinctive bitterness of dried fenugreek leaves balanced with cumin and chilli. Our Puri snacks are made to the precise recipes that make them so distinctive - and so thoroughly addictive.
Boondi are tiny spheres of fried gram flour batter - the snack that looks deceptively simple and delivers far more than it promises. Plain Boondi has a clean, mild crunch. Masala Boondi - seasoned with cumin, black salt, chilli and chaat masala - is an explosion of Gujarati flavour in the smallest possible package. Our Boondi range is made to the classic recipe, with the proper spice balance that makes this humble snack genuinely special.
Chaat is perhaps the most exhilarating category in the entire Indian snack world - the combination of crispy elements, tangy tamarind chutney, cooling yoghurt, fresh coriander and the sharp hit of chaat masala is unlike anything else in food. Our Chaat snacks range gives UK shoppers everything they need to recreate the authentic Indian street food experience at home - Pani Puri shells, Sev, Papdi and more, all made to the recipes that make chaat what it is.
Gujarati Snacks and the UK - A Story Forty Years in the Making
The UK Gujarati community is one of the most established South Asian communities in Britain. Arriving primarily from East Africa and directly from Gujarat from the 1960s onwards, Gujarati families built extraordinary communities across Leicester, London, Birmingham, Bradford and beyond - bringing their culture, their festivals, their language and their food with them.
At Chandra Foods, we have been part of that story since 1985. Our founders understood something that took the mainstream food industry decades to catch up with: that UK Gujarati families wanted access to the same quality of snacks they grew up with, made with the same recipes and the same integrity. Not a British approximation. The real thing.
Today, our authentic Gujarati namkeen reaches UK households from London to Edinburgh, from Leicester to Liverpool. For established Gujarati families, our snacks are a taste of home - the same Sev, Gathiya and Chakri that have been part of their family celebrations and daily tea times for decades. For younger British-born Gujaratis reconnecting with their heritage, they are a discovery. And for the growing number of non-Gujarati UK food lovers who have encountered this world through friends, colleagues or their own curiosity, they are a revelation: Indian savoury snacks UK that are genuinely different from anything available in the mainstream.
We supply snacks for Diwali, Navratri, Holi, Eid, Christmas and every ordinary Tuesday in between. Because great snacking is not seasonal - it is a daily habit worth getting right.
Why Our Gujarati Snacks Are Different - Authenticity Is Not a Marketing Word for Us
There are plenty of Indian snack brands in the UK. So what makes Chandra Foods different? Here is what we would say - honestly, without exaggeration:
- Forty years of authenticity - we started in 1985, not 2020. We have been making these snacks since before most of our competitors existed, using recipes developed in a family kitchen that has never stopped trying to get them right.
- No shortcuts on ingredients - genuine Gujarati snacks require proper besan, proper spices and proper preparation. We do not substitute cheaper ingredients to hit a lower price point at the cost of flavour. What you taste is what the recipe calls for.
- Naturally vegetarian, naturally plant-based - every snack in our Gujarati range is completely free from meat and animal fats. This is not a health positioning; it is simply how Gujarati snacks have always been made. For UK shoppers seeking plant-based snacks UK with real flavour, our range is one of the most genuinely satisfying options available.
- Free from ultra-processed ingredients - our snacks contain what they have always contained: flour, spices, oil and water. No emulsifiers, no artificial flavour enhancers, no stabilisers. For those actively avoiding ultra-processed foods, our non-UPF snacks UK range represents exactly what food should be: simple, real ingredients prepared with skill.
- Naturally high in fibre - gram flour-based snacks are a genuinely good source of dietary fibre and plant protein. Our high-fibre snacks UK range includes our Gujarati namkeen alongside other fibre-rich options - making it easier than ever to snack in a way that supports your digestive health without sacrificing flavour.
- Made with the UK Gujarati community in mind - we have been part of this community for forty years. We understand what authentic tastes like, because our customers have always told us - directly and clearly - when something is not right. That accountability has made us better.
Explore the Full Chandra Foods Snacks Range
Our Gujarati snacks are the heart of what we do - but the full range extends well beyond. Here is everything worth exploring:
- Shop our full Sev range - fine, medium and thick, plain and spiced. The building block of Gujarati snacking and the most versatile item in the entire namkeen world.
- Browse Gathiya - soft, spiced, irresistible - the thick-cut Sev that has earned its own devoted following. Made with ajwain, hing and black pepper to the original recipe.
- Get your Papdi fix - crispy, seasoned and essential for chaat. Besan Papdi and Methi Papdi available for home chefs and chaat enthusiasts.
- Try our Chakri - spiral snacking perfection - rice and gram flour spirals, spiced with cumin and sesame. Addictive in the best possible way.
- Discover Para snacks - crispy, light and available in sweet, salt and spicy. The diamond-shaped classic that belongs in every Gujarati farsaan spread.
- Shop our Puri snacks - Pharsi Puri, Methi Masala Puri and more. Thin, crispy and made to recipes that make them unmistakeable.
- Order Boondi - tiny but mighty - plain or masala, these gram flour spheres pack more flavour than their size suggests.
- Explore chaat snacks for Indian street food at home - everything you need to make genuine Pani Puri, Bhel Puri and Sev Puri from scratch.
- Browse healthy Indian snacks UK - if you are looking for snacks that satisfy without compromise, our health-focused range covers all the best options from the Gujarati and wider Indian snack world.
- Shop healthy savoury snacks UK - savoury, flavourful and made from real ingredients. The Gujarati snack tradition has always been about honest food, and our healthy savoury range makes that easy to find.
- Explore traditional Indian snacks UK - beyond Gujarati, our traditional Indian snacks range covers the full breadth of India's extraordinary snacking heritage.
- Browse the complete snacks range - the full Chandra Foods snack collection, from Gujarati classics to every other corner of the Indian savoury snack world.
