Any celebration of Durga Puja sans sweets is like Deepavali without lights. As the countdown to Puja for Bengalis begins, amongst other plans that involve planning for clothes, accessories and styling of hair are mishti . All happy occasions accompany sweets in the households of eastern India and Durga Puja being ‘no less than a wedding at home’ sweets are a must. Saying so, Chandana Chakrabarti relives her sweet moments from the pandals she visited on Sashti puja day in Hyderabad. “I went hunting for sarbhaja . The famous Ganguram’s is finally in Hyderabad and they have stalls at every puja pandal . Sarbhaja is a fried chenna in layers with syrup and every guilt-ridden mouthful bite only wants you to have more. My list of sweets is long. At puja pandals my must-have sweets are lobongo lotika , sita-bhaja , chenna jalebi , misti doi , kacha golla and nolen gurer sondesh . I hope whatever sweets I have forgotten to mention forgive me,” she laughs.
What makes Puja so synonymous with food and sweets and why does it make people away from home feel so nostalgic? “It is the mood. I miss it all here in Singapore. If I close my eyes I can absolutely feel my teeth sinking into juicy hot crunchy jalebi at puja pandals. That was the routine for most of us in Guwahati during Puja days. I feel the sweet connect is all about the festivities and the all-inclusive nature of this celebration. As a confirmed sweet-tooth, I would say not having sweets during Puja is a sin,” laughs Priyam Saharia, a Singapore-based story-teller and owner of Rhyme n Reason online book store.
Durga Puja and the compulsion to have sweets has a close connect with sentiment and nostalgia. Dr Sanjoy Paul might ask his patients to stay off sweets as a diabetologist and to set an example he might even stay away from them. But when the dhak at the Puja pandal begins to summon everyone’s attention, Sanjoy finds himself tucking in a jalebi and rasamalai and nolen gurer sondesh . “My weak moments for sweets are during this Puja alone. Blame the mood and the sight of so many good food and sweets,” says Dr Sanjoy Paul.
Mention sweets and Durga Puja and chef Amit Das of Sheraton responds quickly, “Bengalis have sweets, Odiyas have Pitha . It is a very traditional sweet and is made in almost all homes. Odiya pitha s unlike the Assamese is made of semolina. Assamese pitha are mostly rice flour based. The other must-haves on Dasami day (Dasara) is Kanika . It is a sweet pulao which is orange in colour.”
Food writer, recipe developer and photographer Chandrima Sarkar has been planning to do something new for Durga Puja. It had to be a sweet but “something different. So I tried a deconstructed lobongo lotika . Sweets take centre stage during Puja as a part of Naivedya . In my growing up years, the paper plates which we used to get after the Ashtami pushpanjali, would consist of assorted pieces of fruits and a Danadar (sugar syrup infused dense cottage cheese ball) typically. And that sweet would be the first thing I picked up from the plate every time; fruits can wait, right? Rosogolla, sondesh, sitabhog, goja, lobongo lotika , chom chom were packed and carried to the houses of near and dear ones to wish them ‘Subho Bijoya’ on the last day of Durga Puja. Apart from sweets bought from stores, home-made sweets were a must. Jaggery and sugar-based coconut-laddus ( naru ), kheer-sondesh etc is what completed my Durga Puja; it still does.”
Sweet treats are aplenty. “The first thing that I remember is narkel naru , which was a must for the Puja at our ancestral home in Sagar Island, which turns 110 this year. Palo is the other treat which I crave for the most. Palo or tikhur or east Indian arrowroot is cooked with sugar and dry fruits and then cooled and cut in squares. Its earthy scent is very soothing and the jiggly glutinous texture is very fascinating. I believe this is a speciality of the Coastal Bengal region. Another must have pujo mishti for us is kathi goja and home-made khurma (nigella flavoured sticks of wheat flour and fat, deep fried and coated in thick sugar syrup),” says Sayantani Mahapatra, a Kolkata based food blogger.
Published - October 16, 2018 03:18 pm IST