Amit Amola
If the small boy has only a penny clutched tightly in his hand, let him be sure to make up his mind what he wants to buy before he enters the shop. If he does not, what agonies of indecision he will experience when he stands before the counter and sees all those jars of loveliness, each of them inviting him to ignore its rival and make it his choice!
How incredibly Robert Lynd describes a child's desire of sweets...
Here's the list of top 15 indian desserts...
Ras Malai or Rosh malai is a dessert eaten in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The name Ras Malai comes from two parts in Urdu: "Ras" meaning "juice/juicy" and "Malai", meaning "cream". It has been described "as a rich cheesecake without a crust."
Gajar Ka Halwa (गाजर का हलवा) is a sweet dessert pudding associated mainly with the state of Punjab in India & Pakistan. It is made by placing grated carrot in a pot containing a specific amount of water, milk and sugar and then cooking while stirring regularly. It is often served with a garnish of almonds and pistachios. The nuts and other items used are first sautéed in ghee, a South Asian clarified butter.
It is a famous dessert which is favorite all over the Northern India and Pakistan.It is traditionally eaten during all of the festivals in India, mainly on the occasion of Diwali, Holi, Eid al-Fitr and Raksha Bandhan. The Gajar Ka Halwa is served hot during the winter.
Now Gajar Ka Halwa is a popular worldwide dessert with many variations such as Red Velvet Halwa, Carrot and Beetroot Halwa, and Cheesy Carrot Halwa.
Gulab jamun is a milk-solids -based dessert, similar to a dumpling, popular in countries of the South Asian Subcontinent such as India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh, also in the Caribbean countries of Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica and in Mauritius. In Nepal it is widely known as Lal-Mohan, served with or without yogurt. It is made mainly from milk solids, traditionally from freshly curdled milk. In India, milk solids are prepared by heating milk over a low flame for a long time until most of the water content has evaporated. These milks solids, known as khoya in Pakistan and India, are kneaded into a dough, sometimes with a pinch of flour, and then shaped into small balls and deep fried at a low temperature of about 148°C. The balls are then soaked in a light sugar syrup flavored with green cardamom and rosewater, kewra or saffron. These days, gulab jamun mix is also commercially available. Gulab jamun is often served at weddings and birthday parties.
The term gulab jamun comes from Persian words gol (flower) and āb (water), referring to the rosewater-scented syrup, Urdu Jaman and Hindustani jamun, m., Syzygium jambolanum (also jāmaṇ, m., from the Hindustani language), an Indian fruit with a similar size and shape.
Kheer is a South Asian rice pudding made by boiling rice, broken wheat, or vermicelli with milk and sugar; it is flavoured with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashew nuts, pistachios or almonds. It is typically served during a meal or as a dessert.
Kulfi is a popular frozen dairy dessert from the Indian Subcontinent. It is often described as "traditional Indian Subcontinent ice cream". It is popular throughout places such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and many other.
As popularly understood, Kulfi has similarities to ice cream in appearance and taste; however it is denser and creamier. It comes in various flavours. The more traditional ones are cream (malai), rose, mango, cardamom (elaichi), saffron (kesar or zafran), and pistachio. There are newer variations such as apple, orange, strawberry, peanut, and avocado. Unlike Western ice creams, kulfi is not whipped, resulting in a solid, dense frozen dessert similar to traditional custard based ice cream. Thus, it is sometimes considered a distinct category of frozen dairy-based dessert. Due to its density, kulfi takes a longer time to melt than Western ice-cream.
Rabri is an Indian and Pakistani sweet dish made with dahi (yogurt), flour, and a combination of bajre ki roti. It is usually eaten at lunch. Raabri is mostly made in north, central and western India and Pakistan. Flour of Pearl millet (Bajri) is mixed with buttermilk to make a thick sauce which is kept in the sun to ferment. After about 3 to 4 hours, it is cooked by boiling it until the flour is cooked. It may be eaten hot as soup, but it is usually kept overnight. It may be mixed with yogurt or buttermilk. Cumin seeds (zeera), dry fruits, etc., can be used as garnish.
Rasgulla is a cheese-based, syrupy dessert popular in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the Indian states of Odisha and West Bengal. The dish originated in Odisha centuries ago, while a whitish spongy variant ("Bengali Rasgulla") became popular in Bengal in the 19th century. Rasgulla is made from ball shaped dumplings of chhena (an Indian cottage cheese) and semolina dough, cooked in light syrup made of sugar. This is done until the syrup permeates the dumplings.
Jalebi is a sweet popular in countries of the Indian Subcontinent such as India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and in many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, like Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria. It is made by deep-frying a wheat flour (maida flour) batter in pretzel or circular shapes, which are then soaked in sugar syrup. They are particularly popular in the subcontinent during Ramadan and Diwali.
The sweets are served warm or cold. They have a somewhat chewy texture with a crystallized sugary exterior coating. Citric acid or lime juice is sometimes added to the syrup, as well as rose water or other flavours, such as kewra water.
In India, jalebi is served as the "Celebration Sweet", popular during national holidays like Independence Day and Republic Day, on which it is supplied in government offices, defence facilities, and other organisations. It is used as a remedy for headaches in some parts of India, where it is placed in boiling milk and left to stand before eating.
Gujia a cuisine of North India particularly Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan is a sweet dumpling made with suji or Maida flour wheat flour and stuffed with khoya.
The packaging of a gujhia is very much like that of a samosa, however the gujhia has a very distinct shape. The gujhia is filled with a mixture of grated and roasted dry fruits, khoya, coconuts and to add a grainy texture, a little suji (coarse ground wheat flour).
Bal Mithai (बाल मिठाई) is a brown chocolate-like fudge, made with roasted khoya, coated with white sugar balls, and is a popular sweet from the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in India, especially regions around Almora. The Khim Singh Mohan Singh Rautela shop in Almora is famous in the whole uttarakhand for their distinct Bal mithai and Singhauri.
Son Papri is a popular Indian dessert. It is usually square in shape or served as flakes, and has a crisp and flaky texture.
Sandesh (Bengali: Shôndesh) is an Bengali dessert created with milk and sugar. Some recipes of Sandesh call for the use of chhena (cheese) or paneer instead of milk. Some people in the region of Dhaka call it Pranahara (literally, heart 'stealer') which is a softer kind of sandesh, made with mawa and the essence of curd.
Shrikhand is an Indian sweet dish made of strained yogurt. It is one of the main desserts in Maharashtrian cuisine and Gujarati cuisine. Preparation of this dish is very simple but it takes some time to process yogurt properly.
A popular variation of shrikhand in Maharashtra is Amrakhand (आम्रखंड), which is shrikhand blended with mango pulp. Another variant of shrikhand, Matho (મઠો), is served as a sweet dish or dessert particularly in Gujarati cuisine.
Halva refers to many types of dense, sweet confections, served across the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Balkans, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Malta and the Jewish world.
Suji halva is slightly gelatinous and made from grain flour, typically semolina. The primary ingredients are clarified butter, flour, and sugar.
Kaju katli is an Indian dessert similar to a barfi. Kaju means cashew nut in Hindi. Barfi is often but not always, made by thickening milk with sugar and other ingredients (dry fruits and mild spices). The kaju barfi recipe that include saffron and is known as kesar kaju katli. The kesar version of this sweet dish is considered to be more exotic and rich. It is an expensive dessert as compared to its counterparts.
Bikaner and similar sweet vendors in India, due to its popularity in India have also made a sugar free version of this sweet.
Life is full of challenges. Wise people choose to meet them. Foolish people choose to run from them...
