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…
The Jalbhoras…
The Abaar Khabo…
And finally, the Jibe Gojas and the Kheerer Gojas…
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
IshitaUnblogged 
eksathe eto misti?
dekhe jibhe elo jol…
kebol chokh bhore dekhi
ki aar kori bol?
😉
thanks for sharing so much “misti-related” information…..even though not a misti-lover myself…loved your pics!!
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Bhishon beshi tayi na? What to ? My friend is really crazy and that too I had to literally stop him from sending more – like Mishti Doi, Cham Cham etc! Thank you for your compliments – do you think that my pictures can entice Non-Bongs to the charm of Bengali sweets?
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mouthwatering to say the least!! 😀
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Absolutely – and I had to stop my friend to send more – he was planning to send Mishti Doi, Cham Cham and more! Have I managed to entice Non-Bongs to the charm of Bengali sweets?
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Found it all very mouthwatering! never knew Abaar Khabo was called so…
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Waiting for 4D Blogging where I can share more than the visuals and text…
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Really? Actually some of the traditional Bengali Sweets have peculiar names which need lot of translation – AnandoMadhuri, Abaak Shondesh and many more… maybe another topic for a future posting!
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That’s not even fair. I need parcels like this! The pictures are brilliant as usual and the subject matter is better than a handsome guy with six pack abs.(of course after eating what’s in the parcel, he wouldn’t have the abs)
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Yeah that’s why you’ll not see many Bengali men having 6 pack abs!!!
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hahaha!
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woahhhh! tht was a awsm! i wish some of my relative frm Kolkata sends me such a parcel too! 😉
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Relatives most probably won’t. But friends might! Don’t you have a traditional traditional Bengali Sweet shop in Mumbai? BTW, all these were sent by a dear friend from Bangalore!!!
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welll there are TRADITIONAL TRADITIONAL bong sweet shops but i have tasted most of them! 😛 i need that proper kolkata sweet shop’s sweet to have the real taste of bong sweet. the fact is, though i am bengali but still have been to kolkata just once, tht too wen i was ten! so the memory of the real sweet of bong’s is a bit distant! bu 2mrw the frst thing i am just running to my traditional traditional sweet shop! 😛
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Wow! Tell me the name of the Sweet shop – they owe me a commission!
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well i might just go to the Sweet Bengal tomorrow! and yes they certainly owe you loads of commission! 😛
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My dad grew up in Howrah and I totally get the Bengali sweet love. Although I have visited WB only twice I did spend a month there after my grade 10 exams and I fondly remember indulging in Bengali sweets. Mouthwatering post!!
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Thanks Jaajaabor! One hour is enough to get into the ‘Bengali’ Sweet groove so a month of indulgence is more than enough to make you addicted to them for a lifetime!!!
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Ladi Kini….God they look so beautiful…loved the deemer jhol pics too
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Lady Kini? Are they Gujias? There must be some colonial association to the naming of these then – maybe some future post! You are quite a food aficionado – was going through your blog – will have to read in leisure… maybe this weekend. You don’t have an option to subscribe by email? My RSS feed doesn’t work that well…
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Just brilliant!! My husband is from karnataka, and my fav city is bangalore.. I will have to visit banccharam’s!!! Dint know about it and I feel Ive missed so much!!! Love bengali sweets!! or let me just say any sweets 😉 Loved the pics.. Im drooling already!!!!
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Hi Dina! Banchharam has 3 stores in Bangalore now – quite a feat considering they are very very traditional sweet makers and still continue to make their sweets by adhering to those traditions. Husband is from Karnataka so Bangalore becomes your favourite city. Where are you from Dina? Is that your husband’s favourite city in reciprocation?
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haha..not really, we met and fell in love in bangalore..so its our favourite city! Im from Kerala, but been here most my life! typical gelf malayali as they call it! 😀
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Aah so it’s all for lowe! I am not complaining of the Gelf malayali – after all the fish moily can’t be made by anyone else!!!
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Hi Ishita, the image of Gujiya attracted me to visit your blog. You mentioned that all these sweets are from B’lore? Is it true? I have been having a craving for Gujiya since more than a month…. help me find it please. Coz, I failed to find my Gujiya darling 🙂
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Hey Meenakshi, where are you based? My friend sent all the sweets from Bangalore. ‘Bancharam’ – the famous Bengali sweet shop has opened a few branches there. My very close friend had sent the entire parcel for me!
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Hey, Guys..!!
there is a good news, for every one who are staying in India, very soon you can order Bengali Sweets online and it will be parcel within 48 Hours. so within couple of month you can enjoy the bengali sweets and ordered from online. so sweets lover can enjoy the real taste of Bengali Sweets..Those who are Interested can mail me i will contact them. Email id “amit.mandal107@gmail.com”
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Thanks for hopping by. That’s very good news. How do you plan to parcel Rosher mishti? Not many Mishti can survive the long flight times. What kind of Mishti would you be parcelling?
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Hey Ishita, nice to see your response on my comment, yes i planed to parcel it through bio degradable silver fossil paper. And yes it is correct that most of the sweets will not stay for longer time.. but my planning is totally different. And i promise within 48 Hours, people will receive there Parcel. And within 48 Hours i don’t think so sweet will destroy. hey one more thing, if you are Interested into my business, i can talk to you regarding this. i am looking for Partner..because i am Putting all my money, only i want help to build up my site, and to do the advisement..so if you feel comfortable you can revert back to my mail Id. Please think of it..I can trust you..
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Amit, if you have noticed I haven’t even put up any advertisements in my blog. This is not a commercial blog. It’s like a canvas and pens down my personal experiences and journeys which I want to share with other people. Thanks very much for your interest. But unfortunately, I don’t think I can help you. Good wishes!
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Thank you for your feedback, its ok..So once my business get started i will post my site into this…so that other people may know about this…It was great talking to you.
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Please don’t do that. I wouldn’t want you to use my site for commercial purposes. I have the right to delete all comments. But I prefer to keep most of them so that everybody can see the interaction between readers and me. Probably you don’t realise that we bloggers spend a lot of time and effort to build our own credibility. If I use a product and mention it, that’s different. Please be sensitive.
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Hey thanks for sharing amazing recipes. Here is a recipe you can check
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Thanks very much, the Rasamalai looks so good!
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Can we have the recipe for the sweets? Thanking you .Anjana Mukherji from Melbourne Australia.
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Thank you Anjana for writing in. Which recipes are you interested in ?
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