Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sweet at Heart
India has a fabulously colourful kaleidoscope of, often sticky and squishy,
mithai
(Indian
sweets), most of them sinfully sugary. The main categories are
barfi
(a fudgelike milk-
based sweet), soft
halwa
(made with vegetables, cereals, lentils, nuts or fruit),
ladoos
(sweet balls made with gram flour and semolina), and those made from
chhana
(unpressed
paneer), such as
rasgullas
. There are also simpler - but equally scrumptious - offerings
such as crunchy
jalebis
that you'll see all over the country.
Payasam
(called
kheer
in the north) is one of the most popular after-meal desserts. It's a
creamy rice pudding with a light, delicate flavour, enhanced with cardamom, saffron, pista-
chios, flaked almonds, chopped cashews or slivered dried fruit. Other favourites include
hot
gulab jamuns
and refreshing
kulfi
.
Each year, an estimated 14 tonnes of pure silver is converted into the edible foil that dec-
orates many Indian sweets, especially during the Diwali festival.
101 Kerala Delicacies
, by G Padma Vijay, is a detailed recipe book of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes
from this tropical coast-hugging state.
