Sweets still a claim of fame
Wide varieties of mouth-watering sweets inside a sweetmeat shop in old Dhaka.Photo: STAR
Idris Ali never returns home from work without a pack of sweets. If it is amirti today, it would be balushahi or maoar laddu the next day.
“If I can afford, then I would like to have sweets with almost every meal or even between meals. They are simply irresistible,” said Ali from Nazimuddin Road in old Dhaka.
“My children inherited the habit. I cannot go back home without a packet in my hand even if it is half a kilogram,” he added.
As Dhaka celebrates its 400 years, the sweets in the old part of city are still at the height of fame for their excellence.
While Dhakaiyas are great lovers of biriyani and deep fried meat based cookeries, their second love, no doubt, is the luscious sweets.
According to Hashem Sufi, director, Dhaka History Research Centre, this love for sweetmeats can be traced a long way back in the history.
“It is one luxury that people gladly become used to. Any occasion in this continent requires the presence of sweet flavours,” he said.
Traditionally, Bangalees distribute sweets among neighbours and relatives on a variety of occasions such as births, engagements, weddings, success in examinations etc. A sweet flavour after a gala dinner is considered as the perfect ending.
“Indigenous sweets of Dhaka are very much chhana (cottage cheese) based and it is dripped with sheera (sugar syrup). This is what makes Dhakai sweets different from others,” Sufi said.
Chhanar bhog, monda, kachagollah and chhanar shondesh are probably the oldest form of sweets made with cottage cheese, he observed.
The dry sweets that we see today arrived in Dhaka from various parts of India. In the beginning it was known as the Hindustani sweets. These sweets were made with maoa (slowly thickened milk in wood stove). However, they secured a place among Dhakai sweets as the dry sweets last longer than syrupy sweets.
Pure milk is the main ingredient of both dry and syrupy sweets.
According to the book 'Dhaka Pachas Baras Pahle' (1945) by Hekim Habibur Rahman, and translated by Hashem Sufi, traditionally Dhakai sweets are those made in households including payesh, firni, curds, reference of which can be found in ancient writings.
Historians consider Hekim's book as a very important testament of socio-cultural background of the late 18th to early 20th century. Hekim Habibur Rahman was a respected physician, literary guru, historian and researcher of his time. He grew up in Dhaka's Chhoto Katra area.
In his book originally written in Urdu, Hekim describes, sweetmeats were prepared at home when a VIP guest came. Aristocrats had personal 'moira' or 'thakur' who used to prepare sweets for them and during special occasions.
Meanwhile, pitha (traditional homemade cake) was the sweets of the commoners. Main ingredients of pitha were powdered rice, coconut, gur (molasses) made with date palm and sugarcane syrup available in plentiful anywhere in Bengal.
Sweets were usually sold by the feriwalas (street vendors) until 1880s and people used to call them Halwaiwala, Sufi commented. Then came the culture of selling sweets in shops.
During Hakim's day morobba and halwa made with nanj, turanj, orange, green papaya and even ginger was popular. Also popular was nukkal, shakkar pera, balushahi, halwai mohon. Except for balushahi none of these names exists now.
“During my childhood in 1950s people used to crave for nikhuti, aamfaak, maoar laddu, luchi bhog and many more sweets,” said Sufi.
Throughout hundreds of years sweet delights have gone through waves of many innovations and processing by the master sweet-makers. Many items with tempting flavours were created by them all over Bangladesh.
The art of making this delightful dessert is being passed down generation by generation. Some of the sweet delicacies made by them are still produced by their heirs.
Roshogolla, khirmohon, lalmohon, chomchom, pantoa, kalojam, lady kini, amrito or amirti and pranhara are some of the tooth-aching names. Lady kini is the distorted name of a sweet that was favoured by Lady Canning, the wife of Lord Canning.
Every single sweet has a particular recipe, preparation style, shape, colour, taste and aroma.
Roshogolla, the soft and succulent ball of chhana cooked and soaked in sugar syrup is still considered as the undisputed king of sweets.
According to Sufi, sweetmeat industry has flourished because of its close link with social and religious ceremonies. It is an ancient custom of the Hindus to distribute sweets in pujas. Sweets are also distributed at the end of milad or other Muslim religious events.
“Establishment of sugar mill played a major role in making sweets affordable to the mass,” Sufi mentioned.
The first sugar mill of Dhaka was established in 1840. Before that gur and homemade sugar were used in sweets, making the process physically excruciating and expensive. Machine made sugar became gradually cheap bringing down the cost of sweets.
Today competition in sweet market is intense. Changing tastes have helped create many new flavours. Various moulds are used to give attractive designs and shapes to sweets. To attract customers today's sweet shops use colourful packing and assortments of toppings. The sweet industry has grown not only within the country but also spread abroad.
However, many renowned flavours have lost their originality. Because the use of artificial elements, adulterated ingredients and powdered milk, the taste is also changing.
“I have never seen some of the sweets that my grandfather used to talk about. Today different names are often used for same sweet in many stores,” said Idris Ali.
“Some of the sweets do not taste as good as they used to before. Sweets are not that soft anymore. Often some sweets taste like lump of flour,” he added.
Yet sweet remains an integral part of Dhakai lifestyle and gastronomic heritage.
Khir toast, khirmohon, malai chop, rosh malai, raabri, motichur laddu, maoa laddu, malaikari, langcha, malai shorai, rosh cha, kaacha chhana, jafran vog, cream jaam, irani bhog, shor toast, shondesh, shar mohon, shar roll, khir shagar, these are some of the names of succulent sweetmeats of current Dhaka offered by hot new outlets of the town.
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