{"id":129,"date":"2018-07-17T12:12:28","date_gmt":"2018-07-17T12:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ftp5.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&p=129"},"modified":"2018-08-07T12:37:34","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T12:37:34","slug":"overview-of-popular-indian-flour-confections","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/ftp5\/chapter\/overview-of-popular-indian-flour-confections\/","title":{"rendered":"Overview of popular Indian flour confections"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n1. INTRODUCTION<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

Sweetmeats are very popular in India and difficult to resist, either it a scorching summer or a bone smashing winter, Indian mithai<\/em> is always ready to tempt the tongue. A sumptuous meal in every Indian house is always incomplete without sweet dish like gulabjamun<\/em> or kulfi<\/em> or gajjar ka<\/em> halwa<\/em>. 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<\/em>. 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.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n2.<\/strong>\u00a0HISTORY<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

Hindus spirituality is the root for Indian sweets or mithai<\/em> which is offered by a devotee to please the God or Goddess. Lord Krishna defines mithai<\/em> as the \u201cFood of Gods\u201d in the Bhagvata Purana. Mithai <\/em>are generally served during auspicious occasion and festivals such as Diwali, Eid, or Rakhi\/raksha bhandan.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

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.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n3.<\/strong>\u00a0IMPORTANCE<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

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\u2019s marriage or the examination result of a child, is always heralded with a box of sweets. Indian desserts are\u00a0tempting, 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 <\/span>kulfi<\/em> in north to the plentiful <\/span>payasams <\/em>of the south, the westernized cakes of goa and paneer based sweets of eastern India.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n4.<\/strong>\u00a0POPULAR FLOUR CONFECTIONS<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

4.1 Puran-poli<\/em><\/strong>, a typical Marathi <\/a>dessert savored at festivities, bears a close resemblance to a stuffed roti<\/em>. <\/a>The popular flour based Indian relish prepared with cooked lentil paste and jaggery which forms the stuffing known as is Puran,<\/em> while the outer shell termed as Poli<\/em> comprises dough, prepared out of refined flour, milk and ghee. <\/a>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.<\/p>\r\n\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n

4.2 <\/strong>A modak<\/em> <\/strong>is a sweet dumpling <\/a>very popular in Western and Southern India for the worship of the Hindu <\/a>god Ganesh. <\/a>The soft outer shell made out of rice flour <\/a>or wheat flour <\/a>mixed with khava <\/em>or maida flour <\/a>has a sweet filling of fresh grated coconut <\/a>and jaggery. <\/a>The dumpling can be either fried or steamed.<\/p>\r\n\u00a0<\/em>\r\n

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

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4.4. Laddoo<\/em> <\/strong>is a ball-shaped sweet made with either besan<\/em> (chickpea flour), rava <\/em>(wheat semolina) or atta <\/em>(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<\/em> is given in Table 3 while flow diagram of its manufacturing process is given in Figure 2.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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4.5 Ada<\/em> <\/strong>or Ela<\/em> <\/strong>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.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.6 Adhirasam<\/em>: <\/strong>It is a doughnut like pastry <\/a>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.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.7<\/strong>\u00a0Ariselu\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>is a Telugu word which means rice. It\u00a0\u00a0 is\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 traditional dish made from rice flour, ghee and jaggery or granulated sugar during Sankranti. The dough is kneaded into flattened rice chapatti<\/em> or poori<\/em> which is further deep-fried in oil.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.8 Boorelu<\/em> <\/strong>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.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.9 Gavvalu<\/em> <\/strong>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 <\/span>gavvalu<\/em> (cowrie shells). The resulting shells are fried in oil and transferred into sugar syrup.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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4.10 Kakinada Khaja<\/em><\/strong>, a sweet delicacy of Andhra Pradesh having close resemblance to Gulabjamuns<\/em>, were introduced to Andhra\u2019s by Muslims. Wheat flour, mawa <\/em>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<\/em>). There are two types of Khajas<\/em>, madatha khajas<\/em> being dry from outside and full of sugar syrup on the inside are rolled up into ribbons of pastry, whereas gottam khajas<\/em> have melt in mouth characteristic and are made of cylinders of pastry.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.11 Mysore pak<\/em> <\/strong>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<\/em> or Paka <\/em>in Kannada means the sugar.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.12 Palathalikalu<\/em> <\/strong>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.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.13 Malapua<\/em> <\/strong>is a pancake very popular in Bangladesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Maharashtra and is one of the Chapana Bhoga of Lord Jagannath. <\/a>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.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.14 Balushahi<\/em> <\/strong>resembles distinctly to a glazed doughnut <\/a>having a slightly flaky texture. It is a traditional dessert of northern India, also known as Badushah<\/em><\/strong> 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.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.15 Jalebi<\/em> <\/strong>or Jilawii<\/em><\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.16 Imarti<\/em> <\/strong>or<\/span> Jaangiri<\/em> <\/strong>(in south India) is a modification of <\/span>jalebi<\/em> wherein the batter is prepared with <\/span>urad<\/em> flour and formed into compact circular flower shape. These are often served with <\/span>rabri<\/em> (condensed milk).<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.17 Soan papdi<\/em> <\/strong>or<\/span> patisa<\/em> <\/strong>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.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.18 Gujia<\/em><\/strong>, is a sweet dumpling made with <\/span>suji<\/em> or <\/span>maida<\/em> flour flour and stuffed with <\/span>khoya<\/em>. It is a famous cuisine of North India. The recipe for manufacture of <\/span>Gujia<\/em> is given in Table 4 while flow diagram of its manufacturing process is given in Figure 3.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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Figure 3 <\/strong>Flow diagram for the manufacture of Gujia<\/em><\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.19 Shakkarpara<\/em> <\/strong>is common in North India, also called Shankarpali<\/em> in Western India. Shakkarpara <\/em>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.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.20 Panjiri<\/em><\/strong>: 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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

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

\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\u00a0<\/em>\r\n\r\nReferences<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n