Dhaka's sweet spots
Describing sweets and how they fare into the Bengali cuisine is akin to scaling the Everest! Every occasion and festival here sees a huge celebration of sweets. The Bangladeshi palate is generally attuned to having something sweet after a meal.
Sweets here are an extravagant affair: colourful, dense, milky and over the top define the 'mishti' (sweets) culture of Bangladesh.
The sweet platter here has a lot on offer; with changing times many new sweets have been added to the repertoire of the Bengali sweet-maker thus providing a large variety and options for every person with a sweet-tooth.
Traditional Bangladeshi sweets are dominated by ingredients such as cottage cheese, dense milk and flours of different cereals and pulses.Sink your teeth in some 'roshogolla'-- sweetened cottage cheese balls steeped in a bed of sugary syrup -- and be transported to sweet heaven. If not roshogolla, try 'roshmalai' -- sweet balls dunked in sweet creamy milk. Or try the 'chomchom', also made of cottage cheese.
It should come as no surprise for someone visiting Dhaka when you encounter dozens of sweet shops lining the streets. Sweets from all over the country are available in the many outlets the city boasts of. Among the more common and pedestrian sweet shops are some that have been here for many years; most popular is Moron Chand and Grandsons sweet shop at Rothkhola, Nawabpur Road.Originally started by Moron Chand's father Sree Ganga CharanGhosh, the shop is now run by his grandsons.
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Other sweetmeats that are more common place and sell sweets at affordable prices are Muslim Sweets at Mirpur-10, Main Road and Bonoful at 243, New Circular Road, Moghbazar.
Alongside these stores, a new class of sweet shops is beginning to emerge in Dhaka city such as Premium Sweets, Prominent Sweets and Rosh to name a few. Premium Sweets is an all time favourite with a vast range of sweets they definitely manage to curb the strongest sweetcraving. Their sweet and creamy delights all fight amongst each other to steal the lime light. But the debate remains undecided thus leaving in you a desire to return over and over again.
Must haves:
Rosh-e-dubano roshogolla
Mihidanar laddu
Chomchom
Roshmalai
Chanar jilapi
Contacts: Premium Sweets, Plot #22,Gulshan2, Phone: (88)-02-8815390; Rosh, BDR Gate #4, Jigatola, Road #2, Dhanmondi. Phone: 01715428051.
Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed
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