5 typically Bengali sweets other than Rosogolla

Rosogolla, or rasgulla, has been Bengal’s sweet ambassador for many many years. But when in Bengal, you will be spoilt for choice to satiate your sweet tooth. Walk into any sweet shop — big or small — and you are likely to find sweets of various shapes, sizes and textures.

Here are a few classic favourites that may well have been eclipsed by Rosogolla’s star status and yet deserve a mention:

Imagine a giant-sized rosogolla and you have the Rajbhog. The word ‘raj’ in Bengali means connected to ‘rajas’ or kings, ‘raj bhog’ means a royal feast. The sweet was once made in royal kitchens to impress kings and queens. Slowly, the sweet made its way from palaces to sweet shops. The Rajbhog is a Rosogolla with an inner filling made of kheer. In the winter months, one may also find a Gurer Rajbhog made with gur or jaggery. Another variant is the Komolabhog with a hint of orange. If Rosogolla claims the status for Bengal’s most famous and popular sweet, Rajbhog is reserved for special occasions.

Small round balls of chhana (cottage cheese) deep-fried till red and then soaked in sugar syrup — that is the Pantua for you. While it may resemble the Gulabjamun, the taste and texture is distinctly different. A close cousin of the Pantua is the Ledikeni, which is said to have been made in honour of Lady Canning, wife of the then Governor General of Bengal. Other variants include the cylindrical Lyangcha, the diamond-shaped Chitrakut dusted with white khoya dust and the coiled Chhanar Jilipi.

Sandesh, a quintessential Bengali sweet, has a vast variety — from simple ones for everyday use to gourmet desserts. The introduction of cottage cheese (chhana) with the advent of the Portuguese changed Bengali sweets and thus was born the present form of sandesh. Sandesh can be norom paak where the chhana is cooked lightly, just enough to bind it while retaining the moisture and making the sweet soft and melt-in-the-mouth, or kora paak, where the chhana is cooked long enough to almost solidify and become firm. Kora paak sandesh has a longer shelf life. Sandesh is available in different shapes (Shankha or conch, Ata or custard apple and more) and flavours (lebu or lime, gur or jaggery and now even butterscotch, vanilla or chocolate).

A small juicy rosogolla enveloped in a coating of kheer dusted with khoya is a favourite of many. The name Kheerkadam comes from the sweet’s resemblance to kadam flower. Its sibling is the Rosokodombo, a sweet first made in Malda to commemorate Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's visit, with an outer coating of poppy seeds.

Chandra in Bengali means moon. This crescent-shaped sweet is made of coconut, kheer, sugar or jaggery. The mishti is usually made in wooden moulds. It has traditionally been a homemade Bijoyar mishti (sweets served after Bijoya Dashami). Originally homemade, it later made its way to racks of sweet shops.