The preparation of Indian Sweets and savouries is an art that has developed over the centuries. Indian sweets are a type of confectionery that rely heavily on sugar, milk, flour and condensed milk, and cooked by frying; however the bases of the sweets vary by region. It is said that no country has a wider selection of exotic, flavourful sweets than in India.
A lot of Indian sweets are typically made from ghee and jaggery in combinations with semolina, whole wheat flour or gram flour to name a few. Sweets made from jaggery have a religious significance.
Sweet Recipes of Different Regions
Sweets are fondly eaten all over India but they are prepared differently in every part of the country. The difference in climatic conditions and many other reasons are responsible for the variation of sweets in every part of India.
In the northern part of the country a lot of buffalo"s milk is found which forms very good quality mawa when boiled and reduced. So in the northern part of the world sweets are mainly made of khoya or mawa. Some of the famous North Indian Sweet Recipes are "Gulab Jamun", "Malai Laddoo", "Mawa Burfi", "Pedha", "Rava Laddoo", "Kalakand", "Khajur Burfi", "Kaju Burfi", "Imarti", "Pinni", "Shahi Tukre", "Dry Fruit Kheer", etc.
In the eastern part of India, cow"s milk is found in plenty so a lot of sweets are made of cottage cheese. West Bengal is the undisputed king of sweet production. Bengali sweets are not only famous in India but throughout the world. The original mode and style of preparing sweets have undergone several changes and novelty. In the states like Bihar, sweets have a combination of mawa as well as cottage cheese. Certain sweets are also made by frying and then dipping into sweet syrup made by boiling sugar and water such as "Gujiya", "Lengcha", etc. "Motichoor Laddoo" was also made in Bihar and then the whole of India adopted it.
Western part of India specialises in sweets like "Puran Poli", "Modak", "Basundi", etc. They are generally home made and amongst modern sweets all other sweets that are available in sweetmeat shops are eaten with delight.
South Indians have their own variety of sweets. They use a lot of lentils and vegetables to make sweets and "Halwa" is a famous sweet eaten in South India.
