No trip to India is “a real trip to India” without a stop at an Indian sweets store. For those interested in Indian food, the country has to offer an amazing assortment of dishes which, on most occasions, are followed by some sort of dessert.
Here are 10 things you should know about Indian sweets:
A box of Kaju Katli, an Indian sweet make from cashew nuts.
- The origin of sweets in the Indian subcontinent has been traced to at least 500 BC.
- Records suggest both raw sugar as well as refined sugar were being produced from sugarcane and later palm.
- The English word sugar comes from the Sanskrit word “sharkara.”
- The word candy comes from the Sanskrit word “khanda.”
- By 300 BC, kingdom officials in India were including five kinds of sugar in official documents.
- Indian sweets and desserts are most commonly called “mithai.”
- Both Pakistan and Bangladesh use the same word (since both countries were parts of India before 1947).
- Ancient Sanskrit literature from India mention feasts and offerings of mithas.
- Indian sweets are prepared in many different ways:
- askheer are cooked
- burfi are baked
- Mysore pak are roasted
- jalebi are fried
- kulfi are frozen
- These are served with a meal or as a form of greeting, celebration, religious offering, and gift giving.
Watch the video of me going inside an Indian sweets store in New Delhi, India.
For more videos about India, visit India Hub, a TRAVEL, LIFESTYLE, and KNOWLEDGE channel that looks at the Indian continent from a large variety of points of view.
Another Indian snack is called “Anarsa”, it is commonly found with Hindu festival of Diwali in Maharashtra and Bihar, it is celebrated for five successive days. Most important ingredient are Jaggery, rice, poppy seed, and ghee.
Modak is a sweet dumpling which is popular and made in Maharashtra, India. The filling of Modak is made up from the grated coconut and jaggery (cane sugar). The soft shell outside is made from wheat flour or rice flour mixed withkhava or Maida flour (all purpose flour). Modak can be fried & steamed. Modak is favourite sweet of Lord Ganesha and made to enjoy special status of Maharati people.
Malpua is a pancake served as a dessert or a snack, it is popular in India and Bangladesh. Malpua is a deep fried dessert (jalebi). It have to be served hot or warm. Serving Malpua with rabri is optional, rabri is a thickened sweetened milk, so you can serve these pancakes coated with the sugar syrup. Malpua is usually served during festivals along with other sweets.
An Indian sweet menu can’t be completed without Kheer, or Phirni. Kheer is a rice pudding dessert that originated from the Indian Subcontinent. It is made by boiling rice, wheat, tapioca, or vermicelli. It is then blended with milk and sugar. The sweet cuisine is often flavoured with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashews, pistachios or almonds.
Pan Pasand is a red boiled sweet flavoured candy, that has been loved for many years in India and around the Middle East. But in recent years, Pan Pasand has faded and it is very hard to find the candy locally and must be bought online from collectors. Pan Pasand was very memorable due to its advertisements being short but also containing humor which appeals to large audiences.
One of the Indian snack called “Keerai vadai” it is a deep-fried crispy appetizer.Keerai vadai is quite difference food from South Indian culture.The word vadai or vada means “savory doughnut”The flavors and texture of keerai vadai will vary from others based on the ingredients that go into its making.
Phirini is a dessert in North India. Phirni is a must on festival and some celebration in North India. Phirni classic sweets in India, we also call it an Indian Pudding. It was also very easy to be made. There are only around 9-10 steps in making this sweets. The main ingredient of Phirni mainly come from ground rice. Phirni is traditionally served in small earthern bowls called as shikoras.
Not really a fan of sweets, In India a sweet called Balushahi, is a traditional dessert in India, Pakistani, and Nepal. It is a famous sweet of Harnaut of South Bihar. It is similar to a glazed doughnut by ingredients, but have different in texture and taste. There is another name for this sweet called badushah. It was very popular for childen and Adults in India.
Another Indian snack is called “Gujia”. It is a deep fried sweet dumpling with coconut and jaggery stuffed inside dough balls. It is very common in North India particularly in Bihar, Uttar, Pradesh, Madhya, Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
In east anthor sweet is called “Chhena jalebi” .Chhena jalebi is sweet dish originally from coastal odisha in eastern india, a stata known for desserts made of chhena. Its popularity has spread beyond coastal Odisha. It is also made in modern day bangladesh. We use cottage cheese or chenna, sugar
One sweet I found that can be made at home is called “Gulab Jamun”. It is very tasty but definitely high in sugar. The Gulab Jamun is known to be a festive favorite and it is very clear to why that is! the Gulab Jamun is meant to be served hot and made with khoya, flour and dipped in sugar syrup infused with saffron. These things melt in your mouth!
I don’t know much about Indian foods, or sweets, but I know a menu that I saw in a movie. It’s called “Gajar ka halwa”, it’s a Indian sweet food made with carrots, ghee, khoya, sugar and nuts. You can cook this for a quick meal with microwave which takes just only 15 minutes.
Motichoor Laddu or Ladoo are made of flour, grind up dough and sugar with other ingredients for different recipe. Often served at festive or religious occasions.
Gulab jamun is a famous dessert from the south part of India. Mainly eaten at festivals, birthdays, or celebrations. Gulab jamun is a flour mix with milk and fried in ghee, serve with a syrup. The taste of Gulab jamun is very sweet, most people will eat with a tea.
Ghevar is a Rajasthani sweet, traditionally associated with the Teej Festival. It is disc-shaped sweet made with all-purpose flour and soaked in sugar syrup. There are many varieties of Ghevar, including plain, mawa and malai ghevar. Ghevar traces it roots to Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan. It is very famous in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, It is generally prepared in January for Makar Sankranti, in March–April for Gangaur and in July–August for the Teej festival.
rava kesari is a popular south indian sweet made from semolina during the festive season, and the main ingredient are sooji rava semolina. They are very easy to make and really yummy. Another name for rava kesari is called sooji ka halwa.