Durga Puja is less than a week away and if you're celebrating in Kolkata, don't be obvious with your choice in mishti (sweets). Sure, the rosogollas and baked mihidana have their merits, but most sweet shops in the city roll out some signature delicacies you may not find as easily during non-festive months.
While some of these sweets are made using original, heirloom recipes, some of them have acquired a cult status. So, if you're in Kolkata and are in the mood to check out the creme de la creme of festive sweets, don't give these numbers a miss:
Lobongo Lotika
Easily one of the most unusual fried delicacies, the Lobongo Lotika offers the best of both worlds. Its crispy, flaky pastry jacket is coated in sugar syrup and it has a creamy filling made of kheer (and often dry fruits). The hot ghee which is used to cook the pastry lends the dessert a golden brown hue; the solo clove which is used to hold the pastry together, is quite key to the recipe.
The clove or lobongo, exudes its sweet, minty aroma to the mishti which accentuates the richness of the kheer. It's not exactly as easily available as a rosogolla or a gulab jamun; in fact, you may need to try a few joints before you come across this delicacy. But this dessert is more readily available on shelves during festivities like Jamai Shoshti, Lakshmi Puja, Bhai Phota and of course, Durga Puja as most mishti shops make it a point to scale up production.
Danadar
A box of danadar will earn you goodwill anywhere in Kolkata, especially during the festive weeks. The sweet is often compared to rosogulla, although it's more elevated in texture. Danadar is fried and slow-soaked in sugar syrup, so the semi-crispy texture acquires a sweet juiciness. Though the process of cooking is not too different from rasgulla, its technique is closer to how a chamcham or a rajbhog is made.
Unlike the rosogulla, which uses a light sugar syrup, danadar needs a heavier variation of sugar syrup and a 1: 1 ratio of sugar to water, so the layer of sugar is still coating it even after it is fried.
Bhapa Sandesh
Although it has existed in Bengali cuisine for decades, the bhapa sandesh has recently undergone a do-over thanks to contemporary sweet labels pushing the steamed delicacy as a low-carb alternative to a sandesh. Although it's unclear whether it’s truly healthier than a regular sandesh or has a lower sugar content, it's definitely richer in consistency and creamier than a regular sandesh.
The reason it's so popular during the festive months is owing to the large variety of flavoured bhapa sandesh available in the market. Steamed sandesh allows more room to add in flavours, so ice cream bhapa sandesh or aam bhapa sandesh fly off the shelves in a jiffy. Although it's a popular festive gift as well, make sure to never store it beyond 3 days due to its high dairy content.
Kheerer Chop
There are quite a few ways to prepare khirer chop, although at its core it's a doughy sweet made of fried kheerr. The sweet is said to have originated at a North Kolkata sweet shop a few decades ago; the shop still sells the iconic sweet and has stuck to the same recipe which uses pure ghee and freshly made kheer. Khirer chop isn't something you can spot in neighbourhood sweet shops every other day.
They are usually made to order or are sold on specific occasions. if you're hellbent on scoring a box of fresh khirer chop during Puja, keep in mind that it sells really fast and early morning trips are your best bet.