UTTAR PRADESH KI MITHAI

Posted On November 13, 2020

Speak of Uttar Pradesh and the images of the Triveni sangam of Allahabad,  Nawabi ‘nazakat’ of Lucknow , Ganga aarti of Varanasi and the magnificent Taj Mahal of Agra come to our mind. There is more to the state of Uttar Pradesh for all the foodies . And if you have a sweet tooth , you are in the right state of India, where you can indulge your way in the form of the unique traditional Uttar Pradesh ki Mithai. Let me take you through a tasteful journey of some of the popular Uttar Pradesh ki Mithai.

A common phrase you will hear is Mathura ka peda. The Pedas  are made by cooking together fresh mawa, milk, sugar and ghee with cardamom powder. Another famous milk sweet is the milk cake and kalakand. Doodh kheer is also a very prominent mithai in this region.

Imarti, motichoor ke ladoo ,Patashai and Balushai are some of the  very popular mithais in UP. Every festival is incomplete without them. Imarti with Rabri is an all time favorite of mine. One of my weaknesses  is the doodh jalebi which is a common winter delicacy  of Varanasi along with Malaiyo another common street food served in Matkas.

The two ‘cousins’ gulab jamun and kala jamun go hand in hand for many foodies who have a sweet tooth. Their popularity goes across all age groups.  When I walk into a Mithai shop I always binge on this trio – the jamun cousins and kalakand.

Holi in Uttar Pradesh is definitely  incomplete without tasting the traditional Malpua and gujiya.

In UP , and how can I not mention , Agra ka Petha ? It is a translucent soft dry candy made from ash gourd. Peta  is originally  made by cutting ash gourd into cubes, soaking in lime, boiling, and coating in sugar syrup. With growing demand, more  innovative variants are now available. Some of the popular  flavors are kesar petha, angoori petha , kaanch petha, paan petha

This has been a glimpse of  my favorites desserts of Uttar Pradesh . There are many more Uttar Pradesh Ki Mithai to explore and enjoy in this region .