Indian and Pakistani sweets

A variety of Indian sweets

Different varieties of sweets served on a Pumsavanam function

Matka Kulfi, flavored frozen sweet dish made from milk.

Indian/Pakistani sweets, known as mithai, are a type of confectionery. Many 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. For a more complete listing see List of Indian sweets and desserts.

Varieties of Indian Sweet (in alphabetical order)

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 as food.

Chena Murki

Chena murki sweet made from milk and sugar available in Indian province of Orissa. The milk is boiled for a long time and condensed. Sugar is added and the sweet is given a round shape. It is also known by many Bangladeshi and Guyanese people as pera.

Chikki

Chikki A simple sweet made out of peanuts and molasses.

Gulab jamun

Gulab jamun is an Indian/Pakistani dessert made out of fried milk balls soaked in sweet syrup.

Jalebi or Imarti

Jalebi or Imarti, a popular sweet all over Indian subcontinent.

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.

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. Khaja of Kakinada is a coastal town of Andhra Pradesh. At first, a paste is made out 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, it is made dry from outside and full of sugar syrup from inside and is juicy.

Kulfi

Kulfis are traditional Indian/Pakistani ice-cream, where the sweetened milk/cream is frozen in small metal cans to be served frozen. Usually it has a milky appearance, but additional colors may be applied for display. A summer-time favorite in most of India, especially in the northern India. It comes in 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).

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). ....

Laddu

Motichoor Ladoo is a popular variant.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Payas or Kheer

Payas (or Kheer as it is called in Hindi)

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.

Rasgulla

Rasgulla, a popular sweet dish made from cottage cheese.

Rasgulla is a popular relished sweetmeats 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 produced by the boiling of small balls of casein in sugar syrup. This sweet dessert can be found in many eastern Indian households.

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).

Noleen Sandesh

Shrikhand

Shrikhand is a creamy dessert made out of strained yogurt, from which all water is drained off, leaving the thick yogurt cream by itself. Adding dry fruits, mango puree enhances the Shrikhand’s taste. It is a Western Indian traditional dish.

Other Indian Sweets

Sohan papdi

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

See also

• List of Pakistani sweets and desserts
• List of Indian sweets and desserts
• Indian cuisine
• Oriya cuisine
• Tamil cuisine
• Goan cuisine
• Maharastra cuisine
• Rajasthani cuisine

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