Why is it that all over the world, we celebrate with sweets? Does that serotonin release feel so rewarding? Apparently yes! In India, you’d be amazed to discover and relish the wide varieties of mithaiis, which is Hindi for sweets. The amalgamation of distinct cultural traditions, still followed actively by various communities, scattered all over India, has managed to preserve this rich culinary heritage. Be prepared for a sugar overload, for this blog is going to be extra sweet ☺
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Did people of ancient India have elaborate methods of sweet preparation?
This gets one thinking: how can it be that people of ancient India prepare sweets, and dishes for that matter, that require elaborate steps? From refining the ingredients to preparing the sweets, much hard work goes into the chore of satisfying our taste buds. The past generations took time to appreciate the finer things life had to offer, and dedicating time to getting to the result might as well have boosted that rewarding feeling one experiences after completing a Herculean task.
Food preservation methods of ancient India
In olden days, there were no electrical appliances, but Indians had their own technology to aid them in preserving precious harvest and dairy products. This agrarian population had the know-how of maintaining the freshness of grains, herbs, milk, curd, along with the knowledge of recommended foods for variously classified bodily constitutions. This makes for another story though. If you’d like to learn more on the traditional methods of food preservation of ancient India, let us know in the comments. For now, back to our sweet affair.
Sweet sins you must commit
Each part of India is famous for a particular sweet. Go to Karnataka, it’s the Mysore Pak, in Ahmedabad, kesar mohanthal, in Rajasthan Ghevar Rabri…
#Nofomo: Here’s a list of popular sweets by states:
Photo credit: blog.railyatri.in
Which one is your favourite? Or which one looks the most succulent to you? Let us know in the comments ☺
Incredible! But where does India get all of its sugar from?
India is the number one producer of sugar across the globe, dethroning Brazil in the last years. Production was at 33 million metric tons for the period 2018-2019, which is 19% of the world’s total sugar production. The sugar industry is the second largest agro– based industry, after cotton, and occupies 5 million hectares of the Indian landscape. Most sugar comes from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra (66%). The production of sugar from sugarcane has seen a steady rise since the 1930s. Two-thirds of this production is refined while the rest is used for making Gur (jaggery) and Khandsari (Muscovado), which undergo less processing and stay popular choices in the rural areas. For fitness enthusiasts: Gur and Khandsari are believed to be healthier options to white sugar, the latter now shown to suppress the immune system.
Beetroot as the raw material for sugar production is being actively considered as only one-third of the amount of water is required for its cultivation, as compared to the needs of sugarcane crops. It can also be grown at various altitudes and matures more quickly, making it a more sustainable option.
What about milk? Many of these mithaiis are milk based…
Here also, India tops the list of milk producers and consumers globally. The annual production averages to 186000 tonnes, and accounts for around 4% of the GDP. This concept of milk production on large scale originates from the 60s. It is the result of “operation flood,” a precursor to the “White Revolution.” This motivated in the introduction of foreign cows into the country due to the higher yield. A debatable aspect, though, remains the protection from extinction of endemic cows, known as desi cows, due to their prized A2 milk which can be consumed by lactose-intolerant people.
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How did the recipes for Indian sweets survive the effects of time?
Life is a celebration. And one can experience this in India, where there is some sort of festival every other day. No celebration is complete without sumptuous food. These sweets form part of an ecosystem set in place to maintain stability in the society, from ancient times. The ritualistic aspects of these festivals are fading away with the passage of time, but the culinary art is still anchored in the modern lifestyle of Indians. After all, taste and choice of food are dictated by digestive predispositions which are a result of genetic adaptation. So worry not! As long as the food portion of the equation stays alive, so will the reasons to celebrate, adding to the delight of sweet indulgence.
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Chocolates dominate the globe. Is India immune to this trend?
Immunity to global trends is becoming rarer and rarer. News propagate at the blink of an eye, so do recipes and reviews on social media sites. The penetration of the chocolate culture has been rising steadily over the last five years. Exchanges of chocolates now occur on festivals like Diwali, on which traditionally, home-made mithai were shared with others. Who knows? Preservation of ancestral culinary arts across the globe might be on the agenda of upcoming UN conferences in the coming decades. This would safeguard culture and health.
Preparing an Indian delicacy quickly by myself today
Here’s an easy recipe for the pleasure of your taste buds:
Ingredients
In equal ratio: Milk (can be diluted with water), Sugar, Clarified butter (ghee), Semolina wheat
Some 3-5 pinches of Cardamom powder, some broken cashews, some dried raisins
- To a pan, add sugar, water and milk. Stir and let it heat up on medium heat. You don’t want to boil it but mixture should be heated through and sugar should be dissolved.
- While the milk-water heats up, put a pan on medium heat and add ghee to it. Let the clarified butter melt.
- Then add semolina to the pan and stir.
- Fry the broken cashews in clarified butter in another pan and add these together with the dried raisins to the semolina mix and stir.
- Stirring continuously, roast the semolina on low-medium heat until pinkish/golden in colour
- Add cardamom powder and continue to stir.
- Stir for around 8 to 9 minutes on low-medium heat. As soon as the semolina is fragrant and begins to change color, that it the time to add the liquid.
- Add the heated milk-water-sugar-mixture into the pan. It will bubble a lot as you add the liquids into the pan so be careful and add slowly.
- Whisk the semolina continuously as you add the liquids.
- Add the liquids in 2-3 parts, whisking continuously with one hand.
- Keep stirring, the semolina will begin to absorb the liquid and thicken up.
- Stir for 2 minutes more until the halwa thickens and leaves the sides of the pan.
Garnish with more cashews and serve your semolina halwa warm!
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