The sweet tooth of West Bengal and its cuisines are famous worldwide owing to great taste and diversity. A list of the famous sweets in Kolkata is a never-ending list, however, here we have gathered 10 types of sweets that we think are most popular among the masses.
1. Misti Doi
Whenever you visit any Bengali household, you will find Misti Doi after lunch. Traditionally, Misti Doi should be in a refrigerator to cool off. The original variant of Misti Doi is simply prepared with milk and jaggery. But the recent days have brought numerous modifications to the simple Misti Doi. Bhapa Doi is another delicacy that will soothe your internals. These famous sweets among the lot will make you crave for more and you will never get enough.
2. Rasmalai
The sweets name, Rasmalai comes from the process of making it. Rasmalai is prepared with utmost love, the malai of milk is taken and it is dipped in malai for enriching it with softness and sweetness. It has a soothing yellow color, generally topped with pistachios, Kesar, and dried rose petals. The plating of Rasmalai is done on a creamy, sweetened milk base.
3. Malpua
Have you ever heard of a pancake drenched in syrup? Well, have a bite of malpua!
Malpua is prepared with a concoction of flour, sugar, and other ingredients. The batter is shaped in circles and deep fried till it obtains its golden brown colour. Then it goes right into the boiling pan of sugar syrup to get the sweetness and also to soften a little. It tastes extremely crispy and belongs to the family of very sweet items.
4. Chomchom
In west Bengal, you don’t use the term, “Little less sweet”. It is the sweetest state in the country. However, chomchom is a famous sweets, famous especially for being tad bit less sweet than the rest. Saffron or raisins and pistachios are the garnish. The famous sweets in Kolkata is made from flour, coconut, sugar, kesar. You will often find it in a oval-long shape. The colour varies shop to shop, but it is generally white in colour.
5. Joy Nagar er Moa
If it’s winter and you don’t have a box of Joy Nagar er Moa in your house then you have come to the wrong Bengali household. Moa is a famous sweets, round in shape, it consists of puffed rice, jaggery, ghee; topped with cashew or raisins. Joy Nagar is a small city in West Bengal, famous for making world class Moa. There are several variants of this sweet items available in the market currently.
6. Rabri
Rabri is an all milk product made to perfection by the sweet makers of West Bengal. It is made by cooking milk on low flame and extracting the thick layer that falls on top of it and them sweetening it with syrup. It is served with a sweet milk base, unusually thick. Rabri, the famous sweets in Kolkata has dry fruits and occasionally with Saffron as its toppings. This dessert takes a lot of place in the stomach, so when you are planning on eating Rabri as your dessert, you gotta leave an ample amount of space in your tummy. It’s very filling and very sweet.
7. Naru
If you ever visit a puja in West Bengal, you will not leave without a Naru in your hand as Prasad. Naru is the types of sweets that are prepared in the household by mothers with love and affection. Grated coconut mixed with jaggery or sugar, cardamom and many other fragrant spices make an amalgamation over the flame and make it into small spheres. People of all ages enjoy naru.
8. Chandrapuli
The sweets name, chandrapuli suggests the moon. These sweets are dry and is in the shape of the crescent moon. It is made by mixing mawa, kheer, dessicated coconut, jagggery and is given the proper shape in a mould. CHandrapuli melts into your mouth as soon as you eat it, but you will have shreds of coconut alive to give you a crunch as well. If you don’t like your sweets to be too sweet, then you must avoid this one.
9. Rosogolla
Rosogolla comes way down in our list of famous sweets because we want you to indulge in the rest, which is equally good before hopping on Rosogolla. A blend of cottage cheese and sugar becomes the preparatory mixture. If you are eating it from the right shop it will feel like eating a blob of cloud. It melts into your mouth as soon as you eat it. People in West Bengal prefer it hot, as it seems to enhance the flavors. Variants of rosogolla are also available if you want to try it; mango flavored, jaggery flavored, strawberry are some of the best seller sweet items.
10. Langcha
Among other types of sweets is Langcha, which is rod-shaped dipped in sugar syrup. It is on the scale of greater sweetness. Langcha is similar to pantua, the concoction of flour and khoya kheer is firstly deep fried and then soaked in sugar syrup. Shaktigarh, a city in West Bengal is famous for the production of some of the best langchas in India.
We can totally understand the famous sweets are not just for the ones with a sweet tooth because they vary in sweetness and if you do not prefer much of the sweetness, you can opt for the types of sweets that are less sweet like Sondesh, Chandrapuli and many more, all you gotta do is ask at the sweet shop. Famous sweets in Kolkata are a paradise for the ones with a sweet tooth as you will find everything of your liking here. Spend time in West Bengal and enjoy the famous sweets by your side.
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