This is the season for gujiyas, but I haven’t had my fill of these Holi special sweets stuffed with sugared khoya or coconut. In Dehradun last week, I found myself in the midst of an argument between two genial old men on who made the better gujiyas. I couldn’t be a judge because while one lot of gujiyas was there in a box waiting to be eaten, the other lot was still being prepared by an army of men and women. But the ones that were there were indeed delicious. The pastry was fluffy, crisp and light in colour, and the stuffing was delightful. Since I was a guest there, I limited myself to two gujiyas, and looked sadly at the ones that were left in the box.
That is why, after I returned to Delhi a few days later, I went to the Walled City to pick up some sweets. And while I had gujiyas in mind, I got distracted when I found myself in a narrow lane in Chandni Chowk – and suddenly remembered an old shop that I used to haunt once.
The name of the shop is Hem Chand Ladli Prashad Milk Seller, and the address is 336, Kucha Ghasi Ram (Phone nos: 9891183455 and 56). The shop is on the Fatehpuri Mosque side of Chandni Chowk, close to Brijwasi Bhojanalaya. You enter the galli and turn left when it takes a sudden sharp turn. On the right is the sweet shop.
18dmc Rahul2
When I used to go there long years ago, I always had – over a sweet or two – a pleasant chat with the owner, Gopi Kishan Gupta, whose father had started the business some 80 years ago. Gopiji is no more; the shop is now managed by his son, Anup Gupta.
It is a small place which doesn’t look much like a sweet shop because there is nothing on display. But if you know the shop, you will know that its milk cake is among the best in town. They just sell two kinds of sweets – burfis and milk cakes. However, if you place an order in advance, they will make rabri and khurchan for you – two other kinds of sweet that I am greatly fond of. Once I was there, I forgot all about gujiyas and asked for some milk cake (₹500 a kilo) and burfi (₹440) to be packed.
I think what makes their sweet so special is the milk that they use for their products. The Guptas are very careful about the quality of the milk, and that shows in the sweets.
Take the milk cake. It had just come off the stove in a steel container when I was there, so it was deliciously warm and moist. They thicken the milk for long hours, which is why the sweet is alluringly brown in colour. It is grainy, has just the right amount of sugar in it, and is not hard as milk cake can be. Likewise, the burfi is superb. It is not dense, as some burfis are, but light in taste and texture. I had a piece there and decided that I had to take some for family and friends.
The sweets were devoured in no time at home. And no one said a word about the missing gujiyas.
