Famous Indian Sweets and Desserts

Indian cuisine has been well-received all over the globe because of its diversity and uniqueness. Particularly, Indian sweets and desserts are becoming increasingly popular because of their delightful taste. Mithai are part of the life of the Indians and play an important role in their cuisine.

An Indian meal is always incomplete without sweet dish like kulfi or gulab jamun or jalebi. These sweets, which are also known as mithai in India, are made from various ingredients ranging from fruits to vegetables, from grains to milk. Below are some of the famous Indian mithai and desserts that you must try out.

Parwal Ki Mithai is an Indian dry mithai that is an all time favorite in the area of Bihar. Its outer covering is parwal (a popular vegetable in Indian) while its inside consists sweets mixed with milk products. Khaja is another sweet popular in Bihar. It dates back from 2000 years ago and is also a dry sweet filled with liquid sweets inside. This enticing sweet easily melts in the mouth.

Another Indian mithai, probably the most famous is the rasgulla, or cheeseball in sugar syrup. This sweet can be found everywhere in India and is regarded as a national mithai. This syrupy dessert is most abundant in Orissa situated in the east coast of India, the place where the recipe for this sweet originated. Rasgulla is made from paneer boiled in sugar syrup and set to dry.

Apart from the mithai just mentioned, there are many more mithai that are widely eaten in India and other parts of the world. The next set of Indian mithai that we will be mentioning have recipes that call for milk and dairy products, something that is special in the Indian cuisine.

First in the list is the Rasmalai, a mithai that is usually served chilled and soaked in thickened milk flavored with spices such as pistachio, almond, saffron strands and cardamom. This Bengali delicacy resembles a dumpling made from ricotta cheese and is a sweet often served during Diwali and also one of the easiest to make. Another dumpling like sweet is the Gulab Jamoon considered the king of all Indian desserts extensively eaten at festivals or major celebrations, such as Diwali and marriages and most often eaten after dinner. It is made of a dough consisting mainly of thickened milk and glazed in a sugary syrup flavored with cardamom and, depending on the recipe, rosewater or saffron. This very sweet and rich mithai derived its name from the word Gulab meaning rose from the rose flavored sugar syrup and Jamun meaning blueberry from the dark color when it’s cooked. Unlike the Rasmalai, this sweet is served warm or at room temperatureand is usually eaten with ice cream. For best result, soak the gulab jamuns in syrup overnight. Cham Cham, on the other hand, are mithai intended for loved ones and are also called Pleasure Boats.

Mentioned above are just some of the wide range of mithai varieties that could be found in India. There are many more to discover and try. A list of other traditional sweet recipes are Chiroti, Paal poori, Peni, Badam Seera, Puran Poli, Karanjia, Boondi and Dal Seera. Other sweets served occasionally or during special days are ladoos, burfees and halwas. Burfees include Coconut Burfi, Beetroot Burfi, Besan Burfi and Coconut and Milk Burfi. Halwas and Laddus include Boondi Laddoo, Besan Laddoo, Rice Halwa, Chickoo Halwa, and Malai Laddu.