It is claimed that the best Indian sweets and even the origin of Indian sweets is Kolkata, which is more or less the Bengali city in India. If you haven’t tried Indian/Bengali sweets before and you have a sweet tooth, you’re really missing out. This is your one stop post for Bengali Misthi! Mishti means sweet. I want to showcase some Bengali sweets and show you how they are different to their Indian counterparts. And hopefully encourage you to venture out, find and try these wonderful bites of joy.
Bengali sweets are usually gifted at special family gatherings such as Ramadan, Eid and even wedding talks. There are some standout popular ones to look out for such as Kala Jam, Jalebi, Roshogulla, Rasmalai, Cham Cham and Shondesh. My conclusion is that most Indian/Bengali sweets come from four foundations – roshogulla, gulab jamun, rasmalai and barfi – and then you add different flavours and toppings to make each different. There are some that rebel from this origin e.g. the jalebi, but most return back to these textures/tastes.
Roshogulla
This is one of, if not, the most famous Bengali sweets. It is a soft (yet slightly firm) snowy white ball made out of chhena (cottage cheese) and dipped into a sugary syrup. Basically, it is a sugar syrup ball… truly a sweet tooth’s dream!
Gulab jamun
This is one of the most popular Indian sweets around. You’ll find this in every family occasion as one of the key staples. These oval shaped milk-based sweets are soaked in sugar syrup. They are brown on the outside and white/yellow on the inside. Again, very sweet.
Rasmalai
This is similar to the roshogulla in its beginnings, but the end result is quite drastically different. It is flattened disc shaped balls of chhena that are dipped in a sugar syrup, but then soaked in malai (clotted cream). Quite dissimilar to the previous two sweets in that this isn’t a guaranteed sugar rush! It is more of a milky sweet.
Barfi
This is basically Indian fudge. You can get many different flavoured barfi.
Below I have named each of the ones we tried recently and our feelings towards them.
Picture 1:
Row 1 (from top left)
1 – Cream Toast – very sweet. Basically roshogulla with cream.
2 – Malicurry – same as above but with a little tang.
3 – Kacha Sana – milky not sweet. Wife liked it.
4 – Sana Toast – very sweet but some additional syrup flavour made it delicious.
Row 2
5 – Irani Cham Cham – not sweet, cross between rasmalai and roshogulla. Not as firm as any of the others. Different texture.
6 – Roshogulla – pure sugar.
7 – Mango Barfi – mango flavour present – wife likes it. I wouldn’t pick this again.
8 – Pistachio Barfi – get more of a rose flavour. I preferred it to 7.
9 – Red Mouchak – really good. Very sweet but nice flavour.
Row 3
10 – Chini Shondesh – pure milk no flavour.
11 – Cobra Jam – gulab jamun plus coconut – doesn’t work for me. Wife liked it though.
12 – Cham Cham – like 4 but more like gulab jamun instead of roshogulla
Picture 2:
Kala Jam – This is my favourite. It is like Gulab Jam’s Bengali sister, but much better (sorry). The difference is not only the inside colour being a bright red/pink, but also in the taste. There’s a slightly more caramel/burnt taste flavour you get that you don’t with the Gulab Jam.
Picture 3:
Jalebi / Zulafi – this is the same as the Indian version to be honest, but it is chunkier as you can see from the picture. Some would say less good looking, but there is no compromise on the taste. You cannot say you have a sweet tooth, until you’ve tried one of these bad boys and survived.
Picture 4:
Mishti Doi – this is another popular and staple sweet dish. It translates to sweet yoghurt/curd. It is a traditional Bengali dessert of delicately sweetened curd. It has a luscious creamy texture with mainly sweet flavours but with a hint of tang. Delicious and oh so moreish. Making it the perfect post heavy meal dessert. Consume it cold and it can be had on its own or with rice. Another must try!
Where can I find it in England?
For those asking, in England you’re looking for sweet shops – Banoful or Alauddin – these are probably the most famous Bengali sweet shops. They have numerous branches around the country. Authentic and straight from Bangladesh.
What is your favourite Indian/Bengali sweet?
