India Sweets

• In India, sweets are an integral part of the social, religious and cultural environment. No celebration is complete without the traditional ‘mithais’.
• In fact, all the deities have their favourite desserts. For example,
  • Ganesh is fond of Modak.
  • Hanuman loves Laddu.
  • Lord Shiva likes Thandai.
  • The cute little Lord Krishna is fond of Pedha.
• Some of these sweets are hundreds of years old and have some really interesting stories attached to them.

Various Indian Sweets:

Many Indian desserts are fried foods made with sugar, milk or condensed milk. Ingredients and preferred types of dessert vary by region. In the eastern part of India, for example, most are based on milk products.

Here is a list of some popular Indian sweet’sregion wise.

1. North:

Name	Main Ingredients
Gajar Ka Halwa	• Gajar ka halwa is a dessert made from grated carrots, which are first simmered in milk and cardamom. • The mixture is then fried in ghee and sugar. Finally, the dish is garnished with dried fruits.
Gulab Jamun	• These sweets are made of khoya, which is a ball-shaped milk powder. • The khoya’s are deep-fried and dipped in a sugary syrup, which is usually flavoured with saffron and rose water.
Jalebi	• Jalebi is a favourite among Indians. • It is a hoop-shaped sweet made by deep-frying flour that is later soaked in a sugary syrup.
Kajukatli	• Kaju barfi is a cashew-based Indian dessert similar to fudge. • It is traditionally shaped like a diamond and is one of the more expensive sweets found in the country.
Kalakand	• ‘Kalakand’ is made using milk, sugar and nuts. It can be called a soft fudge too. • The traditional recipe calls for full-fat milk that’s slowly boiled to a thick consistency.
Motichoor Laddu	• They are deep fried. • Small drops of a batter are dropped into hot oil then soaked in a simple syrup and formed into balls.
Malpua	• The batter is usually made of flour and semolina. It is common to use cardamom to enhance the flavour of the dish. • After it is deep-fried, malpua is dipped in a sweet syrup and topped with a sweet condensed milk called rabdi.

2. East:

Name	Main Ingredients
Imarti	• It is made with a Urad dal batter in a circular shape, deep fried and finally dipped in sugar syrup.
Chhena Poda	• The texture and appearance look very similar to any baked sponge cake recipe. • But it has a unique burnt taste with goodness of sugary paneer.
Cham Cham	• Recipe is very similar to rasgulla but has a unique taste of its own by stuffing mawa in between. • It is coated with dedicated coconut powder as a last step and decorated with cherries or tutti frutties.
Misti Doi	• Mishti Doi is a fermented sweet curd made by thickening milk and is sweetened with jaggery.
Rasmalai	• Ras means juice and malai means cream and this dessert basically consists of a creamy dough made of Indian cottage cheese soaked in a thick sweetened condensed milk.
Rasgulla	• Rasgulla is made from chenna. • These spherical dumplings are cooked in a sweet syrup until the juice infiltrates the dough.
Sandesh	• Sandesh is one of West Bengal’s most popular treats. • Sandesh is traditionally made from chenna, a residue of curdled milk.

3. South:

Name	Main Ingredients
Unni Appam	• It is also known as karollappam. • This mouth-watering sweet is made of jaggery, banana, rice, roasted coconut, ghee, roasted sesame seeds, and cardamom powder.
Kozhukkattai	• Similar to modak, this sweet dumpling is made of rice flour and has a filling of jaggery or grated coconut. • This South Indian delight is mainly associated with Lord Ganesh and is a must-have during Ganesh Chaturthi.
Mysore Pak	• Mysore pak is very popular in South India. • The indulgent dessert is made from flour, sugar and a copious amount of ghee.
Tirunelveli Halwa	• A speciality of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, this halwa is made of pure cow ghee, wheat, and cashew nuts. • This special dessert is prepared with water from the river Thamirabharani, making it unique and a must-have.
Boorelu	• Originally from Andhra Pradesh, the filling of boorelu is a mix of Bengal gram, sugar or jaggery, coconut, and cardamom powder. • The batter is made of rice and Bengal gram.
Adhirasam	• Originally from Tamil Nadu, adhirasam is made of rice flour, jaggery, and cardamom. • The recipe requires a total preparation time of one week.
Payasam	• An absolute must-have during special occasions, payasam enjoys a permanent place in traditional South Indian thali. • Payasam is made of jaggery and coconut milk, giving it a taste and flavour.

4. West:

Name	Main Ingredients
Basundi	• The recipe for basundi is prepared by simmering the full cream milk which is a common step for any milk-based dessert.
Mahim Halwa	• Mahim Halwa is an Indian sweet translated as “layered semolina sweet”.
Modak	• Sweet flour dumplings stuffed with coconut, jaggery, nutmeg and saffron. • Steamed to perfection. A famous Indian dessert prepared during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Puran Poli	• Puran poli is an easy recipe of flat bread stuffed with a sweet lentil filling made from Chana dal and sugar. • In Marathi language, the sweet filling is called Puran and the outer bread is the Poli.
Shankarpali	• Shankarpali is traditionally enjoyed as a treat on Diwali. • It can be sweet, sour or spicy depending upon how it is made.
Shrikhand	• This sweet dish is made of strained yogurt, sugar, saffron and cardamom. • The creamy, velvety dessert, often served with dried fruits such as mangoes, fondly remembered as ‘ambrosia of the gods’ is a favourite among visitors.
Sutarfeni	• Sutarfeni is an Indian sweet, shredded, flaky – rice-flour roasted in ghee, blended with melted sugar to form a cotton candy. • It is topped with finely chopped pistachio and almonds.

Interesting Facts:

• For the purpose of preservation, the sweets factories use formalin. Formalin is a chemical used for preservation of corpses. Consuming such formalin-mixed products can cause damage to the kidneys and liver.
• The ‘edible’ silver foil’ or ‘varkh’ used for coating the sweets, are made from metals that can be harmful for health.
• Mithai or Sweets are usually made in trans fats (Vanaspati) which lower the good cholesterol and increase bad cholesterol.
• The sweets may have non-permissible colours which may cause allergy (skin or lung). These colours may also be carcinogenic in the long run.
• Zalebi originated in Middle East and was called Zabiya (Arabic) or the zalibiya (Persian).
• The Portuguese introduced us to refined sugar. Before that fruits and honey were used as sweeteners in Indian food.