Sweet Delicate Obsessions on Sweet New Year

 

🥳নববর্ষ ১৪২৮-এর প্রীতি ও শুভেচ্ছা।🎊🎉 

(Greetings and Best Wishes for Bengali New Year 1428).🥳🎉🎊

The Bengali New Year starts in the month on Boisakh (বৈশাখ) which is the first month in the ancient Bengali and Nepali calendar. The occasion is celebrated in various ways but no celebration (and trust me on this that we celebrate LOTS of things) in Bengal is complete without misti/মিষ্টি (sweets) and that's why this article is dedicated to some of them and their yummy 😋😋 looking pics.

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When talking about Bengali sweets😋, Pantua (পান্তুয়া) comes into the conversation 💬💬 as much as its more famous cousin Rosogolla (রসগোল্লা). And yes, as far as local terminologies are concerned they are cousins. Made up of chhana/ছানা, milk/দুধ, ghee/ঘি, sugar syrup and sooji/সুজি (semolina), this sweet is of the fried variety in its family and despite being almost mistaken for other very similar looking and tasting sweets, Pantua retains its own distinctive flavour. Chhana are curds or cheese curds, made from water buffalo or regular cow milk by adding food acids such as lemon juice and calcium lactate instead of rennet and straining the whey through filtration.

Talking about Pantua, one must not confuse them with its triplet siblings-Ledikeni (লেডিকেনি) and Gulab Jamun (গুলাব জামুন)🤤🤤🤤. Ledikeni, originally called Lady Kenny, was first prepared by Bhim Chandra Nag on the occasion of the birthday of Countess Charlotte Canning, wife of Charles Canning: last Governor-General of India and first Viceroy of India. However, this is not the only identity of the lady for she was one of India's most prolific women artists and described as the "most memorable and the most accomplished of the women botanical illustrators in India" by historian Eugenia W. Herbert.

Of course🤷🏻‍♀️, other stories of the origin of Ledikeni exists but all agree on the fact that it was named after Lady Canning during her stay in India. Now there are two points where Pantua can be distinguished from Ledikeni. One, the former is a round-shaped ball while the latter is more cylindrical in shape. The other point of difference is the molten sugar syrup of lightly flavored cardamom powder in which Ledikenis are kept.

Gulab Jamun is even more different from Pantua and this difference can be seen in its main ingredient- Khoya (খোয়া), a dairy food made of either dried whole milk or milk thickened by heating in an open iron pan. This is used in place of chhana in Pantuas and it lends a distinctive taste to Gulab Jamuns. In fact, the inside of Pantua is softer than that of a Gulab Jamun. As usual, tasting is the best way to different foods.😌

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সুকুমার রায়, পেটুক

It was late one night when I found myself reading some of my childhood tales. I stumbled across an old frayed book; a collection of funny short stories for children. Inside the book was a short story called Petuk (পেটুক) written by Sukumar Ray (সুকুমার রায়). I am sure most of you have come across his writings in various mediums while growing up. Suffice to say that when I started writing my bit for this article- dedicated to some of our favorite sweets on the occasion of পয়লা বৈশাখ (Poila Boishak)- I had to search for some literary connection.

I found it in young Haripad whose love for sweets is unparalleled even in the face of sure punishment. It really didn’t matter how harshly he was reprimanded by his family or that instead of eating the misti doi (মিষ্টি দই) hidden under his grandmother’s bed, he ended up eating chun/চুন (lime). The moment he recovers he is back to looking for an opportunity to satisfy his sweet obsession. Even though in the end of the story he is taught a proper lesson by his Uncles; what I find most memorable in the story is the uncompromising love and obsession for sweets.

After all, what kind of Bengali would we be if we are not in love with sweets?

Something About Doi

Amidst the plethora of sweets available to Bengalis, doi is a constant in our life. For Indians curd holds a position that determines not only good health but also a sign of prosperity and good luck. There are two kinds of Doi- sweet and sour. The sweet or Misti doi is further divided into two kinds- Lal doi (লাল দই) and Sada doi (সাদা দই). The difference is of course, in both colour and its taste.

Living in Uttarpara most of my life, the only doi bought by my father was lal misti doi.

In the Making: Lal misti doi

The lal misti doi is said to have originated in Nabadwip (নবদ্বীপ) sometime around 1930. It was made by Kali Ghosh of Phansitola in Nabadwip. Kali Ghosh with his brother Hari Ghosh used to make doi and ghol/ঘোল (whey). They used to boil the buffalo milk slowly on a low flame for a long time until it turned into condensed milk and became red. The milk was used for whey while the thicker milk was the Nabadwip er lal doi.

 

Lal misti doi is called kheer/ক্ষীর doi or chakku doi (চাকু দই) and its name holds a special significance. In an article posted in Anandabazar; the writer narrates a famous scene, which is an advertisement of sorts, of how a man buying lal misti doi had asked that the doi should be of good taste. The response he got was a completely nonchalant way the doi container was upended in front of him. As the customer protested, the other man had indifferently told him that this is Nabadwip’s lal doi and you would need a chakku or a knife to move the contents inside it.

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SITABHOG (সীতাভোগ)

Burdwan or Bardhaman (বর্ধমান) in the eyes of a student is the present residence of Burdwan University. To the sweet Bengali taste buds, the district is also synonymous with one of it’s famous creations, Sitabhog.

An exclusive delicacy from its region of origin, Sitabhog is well-known and widely loved by Bengalis as well as the rest of the sweet-toothed world. This dessert resembles pulao owing the similarities to the appearance of white rice soaked in sugar syrup and small pieces of Gulab Jamun dotting the white expanse. Cottage cheese (known as Chhana in Bengali), gobindobhog (গোবিন্দভোগ) rice flour and sugar are the primary ingredients behind its creation.

 

 

A sweet history: According to my best friend Google, Sitabhog and it’s peer of sorts Mihidana (মিহিদানা) was created as a delicacy to serve to the then Governor general of India Lord Curzon. He visited Burdwan on invitation from Maharaja Bijay Chand Mahatab. The Maharaja, to commemorate Lord Curzon’s welcome, commissioned Bhairab Chandra Nag, a famous sweetmaker, to produce something new and unique to amaze the governor general. Thus the Sitabhog was born. Lord Curzon was bowled over by this delectable new creation and declared it the official dessert of Burdwan. It was not long before this sweet’s fame spread all over and beyond the Indian borders.

The Making: Traditional method of production is put to use for the creation of the sweetmeat. Rice powder and chhana (ছানা) forms the base, ghee is added in the binder and some other ingredients like pulao plant leaves, sugar, currant (কিশমিশ) and cashew nut (কাজু বাদাম) act as additions for the formation. Rice flour and cottage cheese with the help of ghee is rolled into a smooth dough which is then passed through a ‘sev mound’ to produce thin threads of vermicelli. The vermicelli is then deep fried in ghee until the strips are cooked properly (special care is taken to make sure the strips do not turn red due to over-frying). They are soaked further into sugar syrup flavoured with bay leaf cloves and saffron essence. The small pieces of gulab jamun which are known as ‘Nikhuti’ (নিকুতি) are modeled from flour, milk, powder then deep fried in ghee and soaked with sugar syrup. They act as the ‘cherry on top’ to the Sitabhog, completing the final look.

 

Savour the memory: Sweets in general was and is part and parcel of welcoming the new year in the Bengali calender. My father has an ardent love for mishti and he would always bring a limited yet delicious collection of sugary delights on this day. Ironically I dislike sweets with a few exceptions of course ❤️. Sitabhog fell into that delicious exception😘. Or rather a recreation of the Sitabhog as I recently found out to my dismay 🤡. I have a personal name for it- 'Chowmein mishti'' and it has the same appearance as the Sitabhog. The iconic thin strips of sugary rice with small brown dumpling-like mishti placed on top was like sweet noodles to me (which is siriusly weird analogy I know). Here's hoping you have 'sweet noodles' too this new year 🙏.

 

 

Bibliography

Bondhopadhay, Debasis. “Famous curd of Nabadwip is in high demand among locals.” Anandabazar Patrika, 18 November 2019, https://www.anandabazar.com/west-bengal/nadia-murshidabad/famous-curd-of-nabadwip-is-in-high-demand-among-locals-1.709126.

Flora's Garden. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, https://books.google.co.in/books?id=f_S9sNe8f7AC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Ganguly, Biswarup. “Shitabhog.” Wikipedia Commons, 26 Jan. 2014, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34063134.

Krondl, Michael. Sweet Invention. First Edition ed., Chicago Review Press, 2011, https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Dt0RErSFvE8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.

YouTube. Sweets of Bengal. 2017. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGuGtsvy66Q&list=PLFHTfy2ZeJn3F8hNvl80DdaCTyAZwBQoa&index=2&t=267s.