Category Food History

However, malpua is believed to be the oldest-known indigenous Indian sweet. In fact, it is one of the first offerings to the residing deity at the Jagannath Temple in Odisha. Referenced in the Rigveda as ‘apupa’, in ancient times, malpuas were flat cakes made of barley flour, deep fried in ghee and dipped in honey before eating. As time passed, rice and wheat replaced barley. The Mughals added eggs to the recipe. Modern recipes include mashed ripe bananas and pineapples in the batter and may use cream and dry fruits as toppings. The basic method of preparation, however, has remained largely unchanged.

Today, the malpua is popular and is a must have during festivals like Holi, Diwali and the Ramadan.

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The gulab jamun – at least as popular as the rasgulla, if not more – is the default sweetmeat for almost every occasion. Among the several theories about its origin, one attributes it to a cooking accident in emperor Shah Jahan’s kitchen. Another trace it to Persia, where dried and fresh milk are mixed into flour and shaped into balls. The balls are deep fried and dunked in rosewater syrup, lending the dish its name. The basic Indian version uses cardamom- and saffron-flavoured syrup and finely chopped dry fruits as garnishing. Sometimes, the balls are dusted with sugar before they’re fried, turning them into black “kala jamuns”. The Kumbakonam dry jamun is similar, with a crisp crust. The ledikeni, first prepared for Lady Canning in Bengal, uses light-fried cottage cheese rather than milk. Another variant, pantua, uses smaller cottage cheese balls stuffed with sugar crystals.

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Popular myth has it that upon his return from a nine-day vacation, Lord Jagannath had to bribe Goddess Lakshmi to gain entry into the Jagannath Puri temple – his own home. He used the sweet khira mohana as bribe. According to folklore, the temple kept khira mohana’s recipe a secret. But one of the priests, disturbed at the amount of milk being thrown away by the villagers of Phala, taught them to curdle milk and prepare the sweet. Soon, that tiny village on the outskirts of Bhubhaneshwar became a mandatory stop for everyone passing through Odisha. A local confectioner named Bikalananda Kar perfected the technique of steaming the cottage cheese balls and allowing them to swell in sugar syrup. This version travelled to West Bengal, where Nobin Chandra Das adapted it. The recipe soon became popular everywhere, spawning famous variations such as rasmalai, cham cham and Kamala bhog.

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