Gujia
Kolkata

Bengali Sweets That Came By Parcel!

April 18, 2012 / 49 Comments

Gujjia

I have just explored my photographic and nostalgic journey into the world of Rôshogolla or Rasgulla – probably the most famous Bengali Sweet in my previous article. Never in my wildest imagination did I expect another volatile mission so soon with my camera and my blogging – on one of my favourite topics – Bengali Sweets. That too traditional Bengali Sweets. But then not many are lucky to have a friend like mine who can not only talk about Bengali Sweets for hours but also couriers and parcels them for friends from across continents and countries.

In the same article I had mentioned my friend Srikanth, a connoisseur in Bengali Sweets and everything that goes into Bengali cooking. Though he’s born a Tamilian, he has probably more knowledge on Bengalis and Bengal than any of us Bengalis. Currently he’s on his way to open his third store in Bangalore which sells traditional Bengali Sweets. And Bangalore is not even next door to Kolkata. Tucked away in the South-Indian state of Karnataka, it is approximately 1920 kms away from Kolkata! I have had to revise my previous post on Rôshogolla or Rasgulla after receiving ‘sweet’ emails containing various minute details about Rôshogolla. So it is hardly surprising that one random evening I receive a parcel full of boxes containing traditional Bengali Sweets from the very famous Bengali Sweet manufacturers – Banchharam, all the way from Bangalore, this time approximately 2700kms away from Dubai! Quite naturally we were elated. Most of these sweets were very traditional Bengali Sweets and were unavailable even in the Bengali Sweet Counter in the Indian Sweet Shops in Dubai. (Mishti or Sweets are officially designated to ‘belong’ to Bengalis. Bengali Sweets are synonymous to an ISO Certicficate in Indian Sweets! Hence, you will find many famous Indian sweet shops outside Bengal with a ‘Bengali Sweet’ Counter or a banner outside the Sweet-shop claiming that ‘BENGALI SWEETS AVAILABLE HERE!’)

So here’s presenting some of the most traditional Bengali Sweets which have lots of childhood memories and nostalgia attached to them. For example – Gujias, a traditional festive sweet. Or the Jibe Goja (Jibe means tongue and these sweets are elongated tongue-shaped ones, hence the strange name!) which I associate mainly with the Prasad from Puri’s Jagannath Temple (Prasad is a food that is first offered to a deity in Hindu method of worship and then consumed by the worshiper later as the food is considered to have the deity’s blessing residing within it).

Then comes the Jolbhora and Abaar Khabo. The former literally means ‘filled with water’ and the latter means ‘will eat again’! Both are very special type of Shondesh – a typical Bengali sweetmeat not available in many Indian Sweet Shops abroad. Opening these sweet boxes opened the floodgates of my childhood nostalgia. I started telling the Z-SISTERS everything about Bengali sweets and tried explaining to them how each sweet shop in Kolkata or a region and town in Bengal has it’s own signature sweet, a comprehensive list of which has been brilliantly done here.

The Gujias…

GujiaGujia

The Jalbhoras…

JalbhoraJalbhoraJalbhoraJalbhora & Abaar Khabo

The Abaar Khabo…

Abaar KhaboAbaar KhaboAbaar Khabo

And finally, the Jibe Gojas and the Kheerer Gojas…

Jibe Goja & Kheerer GojaJibe Goja & Kheerer GojaJibe Goja & Kheerer Goja

Here is the link to my ecstatic journey into photographing the Bengali Sweets that came by parcel! I genuinely wish that I could also add the sense of taste and touch to my posts so that you could get more than just the visuals. And the way technology is evolving, may be someday we will be able to to that as well – 4D Blogging. But till then –

Unblogging it all… Ishita

Recipes and other Food Banters
Icecream Rasgulla with Blueberry Sauce Inspired by Holi
Cumin Beetroot Cold Salad – A Summer Salad
Mango Lentil Soup/Aam Dal – The Summer Combat
Daal Maharani Befitting the Queen (And Also Us)
Sikarni Raan/Marinated Lamb Shank from Yak & Yeti
Easter Egg Curry Cooked By Easter Bunnies!
Mashed Potato Bengali Style/ Aloo BhaatéRôshogolla (রসগোল্লা) – Bengali’s Own Sweet

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