20 Overview of popular Indian flour confections

Ms. Latika Bhandari

 

1. INTRODUCTION

 

Sweetmeats are very popular in India and difficult to resist, either it a scorching summer or a bone smashing winter, Indian mithai is always ready to tempt the tongue. A sumptuous meal in every Indian house is always incomplete without sweet dish like gulabjamun or kulfi or gajjar ka halwa. Sweetmeat making earlier was confined to the kitchens of sweet shops and small dealers, but now has come up as a technologically advanced industry because of its enormous popularity and demand in consumers of India and abroad. The Hindustani word used to refer to sweets and confectionery is mithai. The origin of a sweet differs by region. Milk being staple in East India, is the basis for the most sweets. The main distinguishing feature of Indian desserts from the sweets of other lands is that they are not prepared to satisfy a sweet-tooth alone but also intended to provide nutrition. In our land of rich traditions, offering sweets is a sign of lone and affection.

 

2. HISTORY

 

Hindus spirituality is the root for Indian sweets or mithai which is offered by a devotee to please the God or Goddess. Lord Krishna defines mithai as the “Food of Gods” in the Bhagvata Purana. Mithai are generally served during auspicious occasion and festivals such as Diwali, Eid, or Rakhi/raksha bhandan.

 

People from other lands like the Mughals, Portuguese, British invaded our country and left the stamps of their cuisine on ours. Mughals acquainted us with aromatic culinary tradition, Goan cuisine complemented by the Portuguese while the Parsis brought a whiff of Iran along with. The puddings and cakes that form our daily fare are actually foreign stuff introduced to us by the Britishers.

 

3. IMPORTANCE

 

Indian desserts shares a unique relationship with any good news in our country, like promotion in office, birth of a child, acquisition of a new job, fixing up of someone’s marriage or the examination result of a child, is always heralded with a box of sweets. Indian desserts are tempting, mouthwatering, simple and easy to make. A striking feature of Indian sweets preparation is that it requires a level of reduction with an essential of cardamom powder and kewra, which is speckled on the dessert at the time of serving. Indians are fond of sweets and have a mind-boggling variety of sweets ranging from ice cream like kulfi in north to the plentiful payasams of the south, the westernized cakes of goa and paneer based sweets of eastern India.

 

4. POPULAR FLOUR CONFECTIONS

 

4.1 Puran-poli, a typical Marathi dessert savored at festivities, bears a close resemblance to a stuffed roti. The popular flour based Indian relish prepared with cooked lentil paste and jaggery which forms the stuffing known as is Puran, while the outer shell termed as Poli comprises dough, prepared out of refined flour, milk and ghee. The latter is used as a stuffing in the dough balls, rolled and cooked over a hot grill and may be served with ghee or milk.

 

4.2 A modak is a sweet dumpling very popular in Western and Southern India for the worship of the Hindu god Ganesh. The soft outer shell made out of rice flour or wheat flour mixed with khava or maida flour has a sweet filling of fresh grated coconut and jaggery. The dumpling can be either fried or steamed.

 

4.3 Halva refers to a dense confection sweetened with either sugar or honey. Halva is prepared by frying the flour in oil and then cooking it in sugar syrup. Various types of halva include sooji (semolina) halva, aate (wheat) ka halva, moong dal (mung bean) ka halva, gajar (carrot) halva, chana daal (chickpeas) halwa , and Satyanarayan halwa (variation of suji halwa, with the addition of banana pieces ), and kaju (cashew nut) halva. Kashi halva, a traditional sweet of Karnataka is made with winter melon or ash gourd. The recipe for manufacture of Besan Halva is given in Table 2 while flow diagram of its manufacturing process is given in Figure 1.

 

4.4. Laddoo is a ball-shaped sweet made with either besan (chickpea flour), rava (wheat semolina) or atta (whole wheat flour). It is prepared by combining flour with sugar and other flavorings and cooking in ghee followed by molding into a ball shape. The recipe for manufacture of Magad Laddoo is given in Table 3 while flow diagram of its manufacturing process is given in Figure 2.

 

4.5 Ada or Ela is a traditional Kerala delicacy, comprising of parcels made with rice flour dough filled with sugar or jaggery and grated coconut steamed in banana leaf.

 

4.6 Adhirasam: It is a doughnut like pastry and is popular in Tamil civilization as an offering to the god. The sweet is made from fermented batter of rice flour, jaggery, butter and pepper which are deep fried in oil.

 

4.7 Ariselu is a Telugu word which means rice. It   is    a    traditional dish made from rice flour, ghee and jaggery or granulated sugar during Sankranti. The dough is kneaded into flattened rice chapatti or poori which is further deep-fried in oil.

 

4.8 Boorelu is the traditional sweet dish prepared in the Telugu festivals. These are small balls made out of rice flour, stuffed with coconut, sugar, and dried fruits. It is served hot with ghee.

 

4.9 Gavvalu is a famous sweet of Andhra Pradesh. It is made by shaping the dough made with rice flour and water or milk into small rounds further flattened and rolled to the shape of gavvalu (cowrie shells). The resulting shells are fried in oil and transferred into sugar syrup.

 

4.10 Kakinada Khaja, a sweet delicacy of Andhra Pradesh having close resemblance to Gulabjamuns, were introduced to Andhra’s by Muslims. Wheat flour, mawa and oil are altogether mixed to form a paste, which is deep fried until crisp and then soaked in the sugar syrup (known as pak). There are two types of Khajas, madatha khajas being dry from outside and full of sugar syrup on the inside are rolled up into ribbons of pastry, whereas gottam khajas have melt in mouth characteristic and are made of cylinders of pastry.

 

4.11 Mysore pak a delicacy from the Mysore Palace is a sweet dish of Karnataka, served as dessert. It is made with generous amounts of ghee (clarified butter), sugar and gram flour. Pak or Paka in Kannada means the sugar.

 

4.12 Palathalikalu is a sweet prepared by cooking sifted rice flour added with ghee to boiling water. The hot mixture is kneaded to get a dough and divided into small balls which is later shaped into long strings. The strings are cooked in boiling milk added with sugar and cardamom powder 10 minutes. This dish is made during Sankranthi in Andhra Pradesh.

 

4.13 Malapua is a pancake very popular in Bangladesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Maharashtra and is one of the Chapana Bhoga of Lord Jagannath. Traditionally, it is prepared by crushing ripe bananas in coconut, flour (wheat/rice) and water or thickened milk. The batter is deep fried in oil, and served dipped in hot syrup.

 

4.14 Balushahi resembles distinctly to a glazed doughnut having a slightly flaky texture. It is a traditional dessert of northern India, also known as Badushah in South India. For its preparation wheat flour, ghee and a pinch of baking soda are mixed together to form a stiff dough which are shaped into one inch diameter thick discs followed by frying in ghee or oil and saturating with sugar syrup.

 

4.15 Jalebi or Jilawii, served as the “Celebration Sweet of India” is made by deep-frying the batter of wheat flour and yogurt formed into circular shapes, which are then dunked in sugar syrup. They have a crisp crystallized sugary exterior coating.

 

4.16 Imarti or Jaangiri (in south India) is a modification of jalebi wherein the batter is prepared with urad flour and formed into compact circular flower shape. These are often served with rabri (condensed milk).

 

4.17 Soan papdi or patisa is a square shaped sweet with a crisp and flaky texture, was originated in Uttar Pradesh. It is prepared with sugar, gram flour, wheat flour, ghee, milk, and cardamom.

 

4.18 Gujia, is a sweet dumpling made with suji or maida flour flour and stuffed with khoya. It is a famous cuisine of North India. The recipe for manufacture of Gujia is given in Table 4 while flow diagram of its manufacturing process is given in Figure 3.

 

Figure 3 Flow diagram for the manufacture of Gujia

 

4.19 Shakkarpara is common in North India, also called Shankarpali in Western India. Shakkarpara is a crisp and crunchy product made with refined wheat flour dough that is cut into diamond shape, fried in oil and soaked in sugar syrup.

 

4.20 Panjiri: A delicious North Indian dessert, generally given to new mothers, to promote lactation. It is prepared by frying gond crystals, dry fruits, wholemeal flour and semolina in ghee on a medium heat until golden brown followed by adding sugar on cooling. It is normally consumed with warm milk.

 

4.21 Lavang Latika or Lavang Lata, is a characteristic sweet of Bengal. It is a crispy dish, sealed with clove (Lavang), comprising of refined flour (maida), ghee, semolina or khoya, saffron milk, water, sugar, coconut and cardamom powder. The recipe for manufacture of Lavang Latika is given in Table 5 while flow diagram of its manufacturing process is given in Figure 4.

 

4.22 Bebinca is a traditional Goan dessert and a must have at any celebration. Preparation process of bebinca takes time since a layer can only be added when the one below it is cooked completely. Traditional Bebinca has 16 layers. The recipe for manufacture of Bebinca is given in Table 6 while flow diagram of its manufacturing process is given in Figure 5.

 

References

 

  • Banerjee, S. (1994).The Book of Indian Sweets. Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India.
  • Mathur, S. (2000). Indian Sweets. Ocean Books Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India.
  • Reejhsinghani, A. (2001). Best of Indian Sweets and Desserts. Jaico Publishing House, Mumbai, India.
  • Sheth, V. (2011). Flavours of India. iUniverse, Inc. Bloomington.
  • Verma, N. (2002). Delicious Indian Sweets. Fusion Books, X-30, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-2, New Delhi, India.