South Asian sweets
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South Asian Sweets are a unique type of confectionary in Indian, Pakistani and other South Asian cuisines. The Hindi-Urdu word used to refer to sweets and confectionary is mithai. South Asian sweets are made with sugar, milk and condensed milk, and cooked by frying. The bases of the sweets and other ingredients vary by region. In the Eastern part of India, for example, milk is a staple, and most sweets from this region are based on milk products. Mithai are commonly served during an auspicious occasion such as the birth of a child or the acquisition of a new job. For a more complete listing see List of Indian sweets and desserts.
[edit] Varieties (in alphabetical order)
[edit] Anarsa
Anarsa[1] is a Maharashtrian sweet made from rice flour, ghee, jaggery and poppy seeds.
[edit] Barfi
Barfi is a sweet made of condensed milk and various other ingredients like ground cashews or pistachios. It is customary to attach a thin layer of edible silver foil for an attractive presentation.
[edit] Chena Murki
Chena murki sweet made from milk and sugar available in Indian province of Orissa.Milk is boiled and condensed. Sugar is added and the sweet is given a round shape. It is also known by Bangladeshi and Guyanese people as pera.
[edit] Chikki
Chikki A simple sweet made out of peanuts,cashew nuts and molasses.
[edit] Gulab jamun
Gulab jamun is an Indian/Pakistani dessert made out of fried milk balls soaked in sweet rose-water flavoured syrup.
[edit] Jalebi or Imarti
Jalebi is made by deep-frying flour in a circular (coil-like) shape and then dipping in sugar syrup. Imarti is a variant of Jalebi, with a different flour mixture and has tighter coils. Typically Jalebi is brown or yellow, while Imarti is reddish in color. Often taken with milk, tea, yogurt or Lassi.
[edit] Khaja
Khaja is a sweet food of India. Refined wheat flour, sugar and oils are the chief ingredients of khaja.
It is believed that, even 2000 years ago, Khajas were prepared in the southern side of the Gangetic Plains of Bihar. These areas which are home to khaja, once comprised the central part of Maurya and Gupta empires. Presently, Khajas are prepared and sold in the city of Patna, Gaya and several other places across the state of Bihar. Khajas of the Silao and Rajgir are known for their puffiness.
Khajas have travelled to some other parts of India, including Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Khaja of Kakinada is a coastal town of Andhra Pradesh. Where as khaja of Puri is too famous. At first, the batter is of wheat flour, mawa and oil. It is then deep fried until crisp. Then a sugar syrup is made which is known as "pak". The crisp croissants are then soaked in the sugar syrup until they absorb the sugar syrup. In Kakinada, Khaja is dry from outside and full of sugar syrup from inside and is juicy.
[edit] Kulfi
Kulfis are traditional Indian/Pakistani ice-cream, where the sweetened milk/cream is frozen in small metal cans. Usually it has a milky appearance, but colors may be added for added attraction. A summer-time favorite in most parts of India, especially in the northern India. It comes in a variety of flavors such as mango kesar or cardamom. It is typically sold by street-side hawkers who carry around these frozen cans of kulfi in a big earthen pot. These vendors are known as "kulfiwalla" (one who sells kulfi).
[edit] Kheer
Kheer is a pudding, usually made from milk and one of these ingredients - vermicelli rice, Bulgar wheet, semolina, tapioca, dried dates, and shredded whitegourd. It is also known as "Payas" (see below). ....
[edit] Laddu
Laddu (sometimes transliterated as laddoo or laadu) is made of varieties of flour and/or semolina and other ingredients cooked in sugar formed into balls. The popularity of Laddu is due to its ease of preparation.
Variations in the preparation of Laddu result in a spectrum of tastes. Laddu is often made to celebrate festivals or household events such as weddings.
[edit] Malpoa
Malpoa is one of the most ancient home made sweets of India. It is a form of pancake (made of wheat or rice flour) deep fried and sugar syrup. Several variations exist in different parts of India, especially popular in Bengal and Orissa.
[edit] Motichoor
Motichoor Ka Ladoo is a sweet food of the central Bihar made from grilled gram flour flakes which are sweetened, mixed with almonds, pressed into balls and fried in ghee. As the Halwai's quote - the groundwater is sweet as sugar (comes from the Sone river). When the final mixing is done with 'boondi', the groundwater acts as a catalyst - sugar to make it pure and sweet. Every 'boondi' which forms the laddu has enough sugar that melts like a fresh sweet. Originally from Maner, a small town near Patna, it is now made and consumed throughout India and Pakistan. .It is a traditional gift at weddings, engagements and births.'Maner ka Laddoo' is famous in India and abroad. One of the pioneers in "Maner Ka Laddoo" is Maner Sweets who have branches in Maner, Patna and Bihta.
[edit] Narkel Naru
Narkel Naru is a dessert from Bengal. They are ball-shaped and made from khoa/condensed milk and coconut, a traditional food during Pujas such as the Lakshmi Puja, consumed throughout India.
[edit] Parwal Ki Mithai
Parwal Ki Mithai is a dry sweet made of parwal. The outer covering is made of parwal, and the filling is made of milk products. It is rather popular in Bihar, but also found in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
[edit] Pathishapta
Pathishapta is a Bengali dessert. The final dish is a rolled pancake that is stuffed with a filling often made of coconut, milk, cream, and jaggery from the date palm. These desserts are consumed in Thailand as well.
[edit] Payas or Kheer
A sweet rice pudding, payas has been a cultural dish throughout the history of India, being usually found at ceremonies, feasts and celebrations. In many parts of India, ancient traditions maintain that a wedding is not fully blessed if payas (or payasam as known in South India) is not served at the feast during traditional ceremonies like marriage, child birth, annaprasan (first solid feed to child) etc.
[edit] Rasgulla
Rasgulla is a popular sweet relished in India and Pakistan. Originally a dessert in Orissa for centuries, this dish made its way to West Bengal when the Oriya cooks started migrating to West Bengal in search of jobs, bringing along the recipe. It was only then that Nobin Chandra Das of Kolkata modified its recipe to give it its current form. This dish is made by boiling small balls of casein in sugar syrup. This sweet dessert can be found in many east Indian households.
[edit] Sandesh
Sandesh is a sweet made from fine cheese made from cow's milk kneaded with fine ground sugar or molasses. This is a sweet from West Bengal and Orissa. Revered for its delicate making, and appreciated by the connoiseur, this represents sweet making at its finest. Sandesh comes in two varieties, "Norom Pak" (the softer version) and "Koda Pak" (the harder version). The softer version although more gentle and considered better, is fragile. The harder version is robust and often easier for storage. Molases made from dates can be used to make a special variation of Sandesh called "Noleen Gurher Sandesh" (a Sandesh made from "Noleen Gurh" or molases from dates) or simply "Noleen Sandesh" (as shown in the figure).
[edit] Shrikhand
Shrikhand is a creamy dessert made out of strained yogurt, from which water is drained off completely. Dry fruits, mango puree, saffron or cardamom and sugar are added to the thick yoghurt to get the desired flavour and taste. It is served chilled .It is a West Indian traditional dish.
[edit] Other Indian and Pakistani Sweets
Other traditional Indian sweets and desserts famous throughout the history of Indian food include:
- Mysore Pak (a dessert made out of ghee, sugar and chick pea flour),
- Halwa (or Halva in modern English spelling); made out of flour, butter and sugar
- Jangiri
[edit] History
True origins of mithai are unknown. Some varieties, like Habshi and Sohan Halwa, originate from Persia. Its roots have been traced to the early 1500s when the Moghul Emperor Humayun was exiled to Persia. When he re-conquered India, the makers of Sohan halwa were called by him to India. The halwa makers were not allowed to share their halwa with the common public and it remained for exclusive consumption of the Emperors for around 300 years. Later, in 1835, the makers of this halwa were allowed to open a shop in Ghanta Ghar Dehli. The makers of this halwa were the ancestors of the modern day S.Abdul Khaliq, operating in Karachi, Pakistan.[2]
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sweets of India |
- List of Pakistani sweets and desserts
- List of Indian sweets and desserts
- Pakistani cuisine
- Indian cuisine
- Oriya cuisine
- Tamil cuisine
- Cuisine of Karnataka
[edit] References
http://www.indiacurry.com/faqhints/popularindianstatefoods.htm
http://www.mithaimate.com
http://www.billu.com.au
Consultants for Preservation Of Indian Sweets and almost all kinds of Indian Food. http://www.vikalptechno.com
