Indian Drinks & Sweets

Rohan - I need pictures of all these - can you help get any for me?

India is one of the most diverse nations on the planet. It contains over 1,300 native languages. It has long been a central location of Eurasian trade routes and it contains ecosystems from the high Himalayas to tropical lowlands. It is no wonder that thousands of foods, spices, and cooking techniques are blended across various regions. There are vastly different dishes and similarly named foods, with slight variations, depending on the region.

The definition of a dessert depends on where you are and who you are talking to. There are the exceptionally sweet, the savory, the sticky, the squishy, or the crunchy. Some are milk based (like burfi), others are vegetable, grain, or nut based (such as Halwa). Jalebis are sweet balls of goodness. And those are just the tip of the iceberg.

Drinks, like sweets, vary greatly depending on the region. In tropical locations, fruity drinks (such as lassis) are common. However, tea is ubiquitous throughout the Indian sub-continent. I have strong recollections of local street vendors, from the ghats of Varanasi to the bustle of Delhi, advertising their shot sized disposable cups of chai tea. You can have yourself an alcoholic beverage in one of Delhi's modern bars, but you won't find any liquor in dry states like Gujarat and Nagaland. But there are still plenty of choices from falooda to soda pops.

Sweets

Mithai: Indian sweets made with flour, sugar, nuts, legumes, and milk. There are a variety of mithai flavored by cardamom, rose water, or saffron.

Burfi (also known as barfi): A small fudge like milk based sweet. In Persian the name burfi denotes snow and ice, a fitting name which describes the look of this dessert.

Gulab Jamuns: Another type of mithai is a sweet dessert made of fried milk balls soaked in sweet syrup, such as honey.

Halwa (also known as halva): A dense delicious dessert. Halwa can be made sweet with flour, ghee, and sugar or more savory from made from beans, legumes, nuts, and fruit.

Jalebis are deep fried dough which is shaped into a coil. It is served hot and often dunked in sugar, milk, syrup, and accompanied by a drink, such as tea, yogurt, or lassi.

Kheer is a popular after meal dessert. The flavor of cardamom, saffron, pistacios, nuts or dried fruit are added to the creamy rice pudding which give it a light delicate flavor.

Kulfi, a frozen dessert, which is similar to ice cream, but much creamier without the additive of air.

Cold Drinks

Lassi: This quintessential drink is basically a yogurt smoothie. It can be many flavors with fruits, vegetables, or plain milk. The best lassi, in this humble writer’s opinion, is a mango lassi. Blue Lassi, Varanassi’s most famous lassi shop since the 1920s, is where you can get over 100 different flavors.

Falooda: A cold rose flavored drink based on milk, cream, nuts, and vermicelli.

Jal Jeera: A cold drink of lime juice, cumin, mint, salt.

Chaach: Buttermilk

Hot Drinks

Tea: There are at least 16 major tea producing states across India. In most cities you can find vendors on the street selling a small glass of chai tea. Chai tea is a black tea with significant amounts of milk and sugar. Masala chai means cardamom, ginger, and other spices have been added.

Coffee: Most of India’s coffee is grown in the three southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.

Alcohol

Alcohol is sometimes in limited supply across India. There are many places where liquor shops are banned – Gujarat, Nagaland, and Mizoram are all dry states. Bengaluru is known as the craft beer capital of India. But there are plenty of great bars in big cities like Mumbai and Delhi. In the rural villages, Arak, is coconut palm, potatoes, or rice liquor. It varies widely in potency due to its homegrown brewing.

Where to Find

Delhi

• Jalebiwala (Get your jalebis here): Deep fried syrupy dough

• Ghantewala (Methai sweets)

• Sohan halwa (ghee dipped flour biscuits)

• Roshan Di Kulfi (pista badam kulfi – frozen milk dessert with pistachio, almond, and cardamom)

• Wenger’s (milkshakes, lassis)

Mumbai

• Badshah Snacks and Drinks (falooda – rose flavored drink with milk, cream, nuts, and vermicelli)

• New Kulfi Centre (kulfi – Indian ice cream)

Chennai

• A2B (sweets)

Calcutta

• KC Das (Rasgulala rose water scented cheese balls, mishit doi – sweet yogurt dessert)

Bengali Desserts and Sweets

• Bengali desserts and sweets are legendary. Most characteristic are mishit dhoi (curd deliciously sweetened with jiggery), rasgulla (syrupy sponge balls) and cham-cham (double textured curd based fingers)