History of famous bengali sweets are more than 500 years old . As in older days Bengal was called ‘Gour Banga’. Gour come from the bengali word ‘gur’ , means molasses which are mainly made from sugarcane , Dates or palm. In the earlier days before the invention of ‘chana’ (a milk product ) , coconut , jiggery and rice flour were used to make famous bengali sweets like nadu , payesh , monda , batasa and pitha puli.

Chana was invented by the bengali mithai makers . The history of chana misti(sweets) is not older than 200 year in Bengal . One of the famous chana sweets are rasogolla , sandesh , rasmalai and many more . Bengal sweets are just not a desserts but this are connected with the Bengali emotion . As every Birthday or Marriage or religious festival is incomplete without the presence of Bengali desserts . Here I named some of the famous Bengali sweets . Some sweets were born in Bengal and some were incorporated in Bengali sweets .

BaLushaihi :

Balushaihi is a Rajasthani sweet which is crispy from outside and white and fragile inside. It is one of the famous bengali sweets in bengal . This just melts in your mouth , don’t have to chew much . It can be made very easily in home with minimum ingredients . Balushaihi is popularity throughout India . In southern India it is called the Badusha .

First you have to take wheat flour and add oil , curd and baking powder to make a dough . Now make small round shaped ball and press in the centre of this ball with thumb finger to make a hole . After that deep fry it in ghee or butter and dipped it into hot sugar syrup. Next keep it here for 10 minutes . Now your Balushahi is ready.

It can be found all over the India from the North to the south and East to the West . It can be found in most of the sweet shops in Bengal .

BoNde :

Bonde is a Indian delicacy found mainly in the eastern part of the India . It is a stickey , soft , juicey and sponzy small round ball . Bonde can be in different color like white (specially found in kamarpukur in Hooghly district ) , red and yellow . It is mainly made of besan (Flour of Chana ) , sugar and oil . This is very famous in bengal. It is cheap and tasty sweet .

First you have to make the batter of Besan with water . Now you have to put this batter into a net like pot and stirr above hot oil .Then you have to fried it in the oil and dip the fried bonde into the sugar syrup . After 30 mins you can get beautiful soft colorful Bonde . Actually it is served when it cools down but you can also eat hot Bonde.

You can get Bonde in any sweet shops in Bengal . Also you can buy the pack of fried bonde and then just dip it into sugar syrup.

ChanDrapuli :

This are another famous bengali sweets , made of coconut . This is usally called coconut sweet .This are made for the specific festival like Durga Puja . It’s shaped like a half moon and this is the reason of the name Chandrapuli. Ingrients of this sweet are chana , khoya , grated coconut , sugar and Raisins .

First mix the khoya and the grated coconut in the hot oven . Now add chana and mixed it well . After that add sugar and mixed properly . When it cools down make the specific designed sweets by the wooden mold.

This is mainly made in the festival times.

Chanar Jilapi :

Chanar jilapi is another bengali delicasy which is like sponzy inside and brown outside . It is brown outside because of the deepfry the items . This is a another sweet which is dipped inside the sugar syrup . It is very delicious juicey jilapi which just melts in your mouth not like the normal jilapi .

Chanar Jilapi is made of Chana , Wheat Flour , Suji , sugar and Baking powder . First Mix this ingrident and make dough . Then take small part of it and shape like jilapi . After that deepfry it and dipped into the rash(Sugar syrup) for 30 mins . Now your Chanar Jilapi is ready for serve .

You can find chanar Jilapi in most of the sweet shops in Bengal .

DaNadar :

Danadar is a cheap sweet . You can get it in any sweet shop . It is like rectangle cubiod or round ball shape . Outside is rough and have been a coated with lots of sugar and inside is juicey and soft . Danadar is made up of chena , sugar , Suji and Maida .

First you have to make chena then mix maida and suji with the chena . Now mix it well by pressing it with the palm . After that make small round or rectugalar shape ball . Now boil it in the sugar syrup. After that roll the hot balls in sugar . Now keep it for cool down . Now your Danadar is ready .

It can be found in any sweet shop in Bengal

GaJa :

Gaja is a crispy , stickey sweet filled with sugar syrup . It is hard , crispy and brownish from outside and soft and little brown from inside . This is very famous sweet in west Bengal and Orissa . It is called Gaja in West Bengal and Khasta Gaja in Orissa . It is very cheap sweet and in most areas you can taste it within 5-10 INR.

First you have to prepare a dough with White wheat Flour , Ghee , Oil and Baking powder . Now you have to made Gaja by layering and pasting procedure shown in the video . You have to repeat that procedure 4-5 times for making it crispy . Now you have to deep fried it and dipped into the sugar syrup. Now your Gaja is ready to serve .

You can find Gaja in any sweet shop in West Bengal and orissa .

GuJiya :

Gujiya is a Bengali sweet mainly used for prasadam . In our childhood we saw our mother and aunt brought it for puja Prasadam . It tasts also very good . This is made of Khir and other ingredient . It looks like triangular cylindrical chain .

Two way it can be produced either by adding milkpowder to water and then condense it by boiling , or boiling the milk and make it khir . Now with the khir add sugar and ghee to make the final product . Now when the mixture cools make the required shaped sweet.

In most of the sweet shops in bengal it is found .

Gajar er HalwA :

Gajar (Carrot) er Halwa is a famous sweet which made in the winter time in Bengal , both in the Home and also in the sweet Shop . Though it involved too much in bengali culture but it’s birth place is not Bengal but Parsia which is modern day Iran . First reference of Halwa in Parsia is in the 7th century . At that time it was build with date paste and Milk . Later it spread in other Arabic countries , Turkey and Europe . In India it comes by the Delhi Sultans . It has very different variety of Halwa but today we are discussing the Gajer er Halwa .

For making gajer er Halwa first you have to cut / grate the carrots into very small pieces . Later this chopped carrots are boiled in hot water . Now put ghee in the pan and give different spices for flavour . Now add this boiled carrot and sugar . Now mix them well and at the last moment add some nuts for garneshing .

You will get gajer er Halwa in bengal only in the Winter time . As only in winter in west bengal carrot grows . In the bigger sweet shops you can get it in wnter times , as it is considered expensive sweet in bengal .

JhalBhara Sandesh :

Jhalbhara sandesh is a special type of sandesh where inside of it you will find little amount of water . This water just not look like water but like gur syrup. It is a unique invention of Surya Kumar Modak from chandannagar . It is an another sweet made for the royal family like Mihidana and sitabhog. It all started after the marriage of the royal family of Bhadreshwar with the Baidyabati . When son-in-law going to visit his father-in-laws house then they ordered surya kumar moak to make some unique sweets to fool their son-in-law. So he put rose water inside the sweet as like talsas(palm kernels) . so when you bite in the sandesh water comes out of it . This is the story of invention of Jhalbhara sandesh .

First you have to make chena then mix nalen gur in hot pan . Now when the mixture is ready then make small dough from this mixture and put that in a special wooden mold and press inside to make a hole. After that put nalen gur inside it and fill the back . Now remove the wooden mold and now comes out the Jhalbhara sandesh .

This sweet is mainly famous in Kolkata and nearby district in west Bengal . This is a very unique sweet in Bengal . It’s founder shop is in Chandannagar …. surya kumar Modak.

JilApi :

It is famous crispey and juicey sweet which is loved throughout the Indian subcontinent . Not only that it is also favourite sweet in Iran and Arabs , Nepal , Pakisthan , Bangladesh Egypt , Morocco , Algeria , Tunisia and Azerbaijan . Only the name and ingredient differ a bit but the procedure is more or less same .It is a crispey , juicey and littlibit sour and stickey sweet delicacy.

This sweet have different name in different parts of the world like jilapi in Bengal and eastern india , Jalebi in nothern india and southern India , Zalabia in Tunisia and turkey and Zolbiya in Iran . This sweet has a recognition world wide .

As per the oldest written script it was eaten in the month of Ramadan in Iran as old as in 10th century . Later in 15 the century it comes to India . At that time in India its name was Kundalika and Ja;avallika . Later from the Irani word Zalabia it got it’s name as Jalabi. So it was not born in bengal and it is more than 1000 years old . From the 15 th century , in a jain script Priyamkarnrpakatha , it was first described as a food . Later in many other script it was described.

First you have to mix wheat flour with the rice flour in 3 :1 proportion . Then add 3 spoon of curd with it to add the sourness in it . Then mix it well and put it into a pot where there a hole in the bottom . Now open the hole and make spiral like shape in the hot oil and fry . Actually jilapi is 2 and1/2 spiral of the batter . It has unique value in bengali culture . Then dip the fried jilapi in the sugar syrup. Now you can eat the hot jilapi .

Jilapi is one of the major attraction of any mela(it is like village shopping festival) in bengal specially rather mela. Rather than in some sweet and snaks shop you can find it

Kalakand :

Kalakand is a indian sweet which started it’s journey from the state of Rajasthan but also a famous bengali sweet . It is creamy and thick sweet made of chana and milk . It is served in festival season and also daily consumption .

First you have to make chena then mash it with hand then mix it with milk and cook for certain time period upto it becomes thick . Now keep that mixture in some flat pan . When it cools down just cut it into pieces and serve it to the guest . Now it is ready to serve .

Through india it has good presence . In any sweet shop in India you can get it .

Kheer eR Singara :

Kheer er Singara is a another Bengali invention in the area of sweet where instead of potato stuffing , kheer /Mawa is stuffed inside the Singara/Samosha. It tastes very delicious . It is very crispy in the outer layer and soft kheer inside it .

First you add oil and water to the wheat flour to make the dough and now make round ball of symmetrical size from the dough . Now with the help of Belan (A wooden instrument for make flat bread ) make flat round shape from the small ball. After that cut it into two half and stuffed kheer inside it and fry this singara and dipped it inside the sugar syrup . Now your kheer er singara is ready to serve .

It can be found all over in Bengal in the sweet shops .

KhAja :

Khaja is one of the delicious sweet in West Bengal and Orissa . Actually it is more famous for being used as Prasadam in Puri sri Jagannath Temple . It is a layered crispy sweet where inside is soft and full of sugar syrup. Mainly there is two types of khaja one which is hard an can kept for longer days another very soft and juicey . second one is perishable . You have to consume fast . Khaja is a very old sweet and thought to originated from eastern Utterpradesh . It is like trademark for sweets in orissa.

Just like Gaja you have to make dough by wheat flour , salt , oil , ghee . Then you have to make layered khaja structure like the video . Now deep fry it to make it crispy and then dip into sugar syrup. Now your khaja is ready.

In West Bengal , Orissa , Uttar Pradesh , Bihar and in AP you can find sweet shops selling khaja . In orissa it is most famous . Now Just enjoy the khaja and can make it in home also .

LyaNgcha :

Langcha is a sweet of Ras(Sugar syrup) . It is crunchy and dark/brownish from outside and white soft from inside . This is like a cylindrical Pantua with the taste of Gulabjamun . It is a sweet of Burdwan district . Shaktigarh is most famous for this sweet . It is like the holy spot for langcha . Beside the NH 19 upto a KM length most shops sell Langcha .

The story of Langcha making starts from a matrimonial bonding . A Matrimonial bonding has been established between the Prince of Burdwan and Princes of Krishnagar in west bengal . After marriage when she was in Burdwan and pregnent she wishes to eat some special sweet only made in Krishnanagar . She does not know the name of the sweet only know that a Langra (The man who can not walk properly in bengali language ) man made that in Krishnagar . So after that , the langra man was brought to burdwan to make this special sweet and got the name Langcha for this sweet .

It was made of flour , khir/khoya(solid milk) , baking powder , ghee and milk powder . First you have to mix all the ingridents and make a dough . Then from this dough you have to make some small cylindrical items . Then it was deep fried in ghee or oil and diped into sugar syrup for one hour . Now your Lyangcha is ready for serving .

It is sold in most of the sweet shops in Bengal , Orissa , Jharkhand , Assam and Tripura. On those place , there is influence of bengali culture , you can find Langcha . Shaktigarh (near to burdwan town ) is most famous for this sweet . There is lots of shops who sell Lyangcha . It is very cheap there , only from INR 5 to 10 .

MaKha Sandesh :

Makha sandesh is one of famous bengali sweet . It is more than 100 years old . It is soft creamy ans sticky bengali sweet made of sugar , chena and milk . It has two color , white and brown . One made of sugar another with Gur or jiggery. It is a cheap sweet made specially in village areas and also in the city .

First you have to make chena then mix with milk well . Then you have to boil it with milk and add sugar until it becomes condensed form . Now cool it down and your Makha Sandesh is ready . It is very easy to make and delicious also .

You can find this sweet in any sweet shops in Bengal specially in rural bengal .

MaLpua :

Malpua is one of the very famous Indian delicasy with history more than 3000 year . From the vedic times it is prepared but slightly different varient . It is used in the Bhog of Jagannath in Puri . In bengal specially in “Pous sankranti ” it is prepared . Mostly in nothern India and Eastern India it is prepared .It is like a sweet pan cake made of wheat flour , black paper , sugar , Suji , cardamom , fennel , Milk and Oil . It is mainly made in festival time . Inside the malpua is floppy and outside , specially in the corner side is crispey.

First you have to make the batter with wheat flour , Milk and Suji . Then for taste add cardamon powder , black paper and fennel powder and mix it properly . Now put the mixture into hot oil in round shape and deepfry it . Now just dip it into the sugar syrup. After 10 mins you bring out the malpoa for serving .

It is mainly made in the festival season . It is belived to be one of the oldest delicasy of indian subcontinent . Malpoa is widely consumed in Bihar , Jharkhand , Assam , Bengal and Orissa . In ordinary sweet shop you often found it but in the time of “Pous sankranti ” you will find it in every home in Bengal .

MihIdana :

Mihidana is a sweet delicasy of Burdwan , west bengal . In Bengali ‘Mihi’ means small and dana means particle . It is very small particle like sweet diped in condensed sugar syrup . Often people garnish it with Kashew and raisina .

It is more than 100 years old sweet . It is made at the time lord curzon visit to the kingdom of Burdwan in the early 20 th century . At that time king of burdwan asked the famous sweet maker of Burdwan Bhairav ch Nag to prepare some special sweet in the honor of mr curzon . On that time he invented this sweet .

The batter of the Mihidana was made from the flour of Kaminibhog , Gobindobhog and Basmati rice and mixed with gram flour and safron . When the mixture becomes smooth then put that into net like pot and shake the pot . After that small dana are pour on the hot oil . Now you have to fried those and dipped into the condensed sugar syrup . After two hour your mihidana is ready to serve .

In most of the Bengal sweet shops , you get the Mihidana . Burdwan is special for the Mihidana . Near the Burdwan Railway station there is lots of shops selling mihidana .

MiSti Dhai :

Misti Dhai means sweet curd . It is one of the bengal delicasy . It is very famous for the Birth Day Celebration . In good sweet shops this Misti Dhai is made in the Clay pot . So the pot soaks the excess water and make the Dhai (Curd )more condense . It is very tasty . Now a days there is also lots of flavour of Misti Dhai like Chocolate , Mango , Pinaple and lots more . when you eat misti Dhai there is a thick layer of cream above Dhai .

First you have to condense the milk in the oven for making the thick curd (Dhai) and add sugar on it . Then you have to mix previous Dhai Dhambal(It is a small portion of previous sour Curd) with this boiling Milk . Now keep that mixture in warm place . After 6-8 Hours the curd is ready . This is the sweet curd.

Some of the famous Misti Dhai shops are Laxmi Narayan Misthanna Bhandar ( Masat ) , Deshbandhu sweets (Burabazzar).

Monda Mithai :

Monda Mithai is a Bangladeshi sweet which started it’s journey from the Muktagachha Bangladesh . It is one of the oldest sweet in Bengal . which is hard sweet made of chena and Milk . It has a thick layer of sugar above it .First Ram Gopal Pal prepared this sweet for their Zamindar Suryakanta Acharya chowhury . He fells it very delighted and support Gopal Pal for spreading his business . After that it is spread throughout the Bengal.

First you have to mix chena , sugar and Milk in a proper proportion . Then kept it in a hot Pan and stir well. when you see it become thick you switch off the stove . Now make a small dough and throw it on a plate . When it cools bit make a sandwitch and keep it for cools down . Now your monda is ready .

Specially in village area in the sweet shops in Bengal and Bangladesh you can found Monda.

MonOhara :

Monohara is a famous bengali sweet starts its journey from Janai , Hooghly . It is like chana sandesh coated by the sweet sugar syrup . It is shaped like half cube and is hard sugar coat in outside and soft sandesh in inside . There are lots of stories about the genesis of the Monohara some says In zamindari influence it is made some says about the british ruler . One major point of the sweet is that you can store the sweet for quiet some days which is not possible for other chana sandesh .

First you have to make chana then make it smooth by pressing and rubbing with hand . Now make round shaped ball by hand and dip this balls in the hot dense sugar syrup . Now put this balls on the banana Leave for cooling . After cooling Monohara is ready .

Janai (situate in Hooghly district in the Howrah – Burdwan chord Rail line ) is most famous for Monohara but in all the south bengal you can find this sweet which you can preserve for longer period of time .

Coconut NaDu :

Nadu is afamous bengali sweet made of coconut . It is soft round shape ball of coconut . In normal sweet shops you can not get it but in festival times specially after Vijaya dashami in Durga puja , it is made in every House . In bengal there is a tradition to give sweet if some guest come after Durga Puja . For that purpose mainly Nadu is made . Both Sugar and Gur is used as sweetner . For the sugar nadu looks white on the other hand Gur Nadu looks like Brown . In bengal coconut Nadu is most famous . It is also used for worship to the God .

For making Nadu first you have to graded Coconut then mix milk and sugar/Gur with that mixture and stir it on the oven . when it becomes dense then make it little cool which your hand can tolerate . Then after you have to make round ball of it with your hand . Now your Nadu is ready for consumption

In home you can made Coconut Nadu very easily.

PanTua :

Pantua is one of the famous sweets in bengal . It is made up of chena , white flour and suji . After making dough from this element you have to fry those dough and then submerge in Sugar syrup. It is very tasty sweet . It is very soft from inside . If it’s color becomes more darker then it is called kalojam. Normal Brown color is called the Pantua .

You can find it in any sweet shops in bengal and orissa .

PatiShapta :

Patishaptas are one of the famous bengali sweet which are made specially in the time of “Pous Sankranti 0r Makar Sankranti ” or pitha puli in the winter times . It is also one of the oldest delight in India . It is mostly famous in the Eastern Part of the India .

First you have to make the batter of Rice flour , wheat flour , suji , milk and jiggery . You can add fennel powder or cardemon powder for scent .Now you have to just layered the pan with slight oil and make roti like shape by this batter . Now stuff khowa inside this round shaped roti . In stead of khowa you can use grated coconut with jiggery mixture . Now finaly fry it . Now the patisaptha is ready to eat .

It is mainly made in the winter season in the time of pous sankranti . Also in mela stall you can find it . In some sweet shop also you find it . Mainly in Bihar , Orissa , Assam , Jharkhand and west bengal it is made in the winter time .

PayAsam:

Payasam is one of the oldest sweet food in Indian subcontoent and it is a famous bengali sweet which we use to celebrate our birth days and any festival .It is believed to be 2000 years old and first started from the Puri Jagannath temple . Throughout the India it is popular an it is called by the different name like kheer , Phirni and Payasa . Specially in southern India it is beliefed to be incomplete food without the menu of payasam . In eastern India people cecebrate the Birth day with the payasm . Religious festivals often celebrate with Payasam and in specially Krishna worship .

For making payasm first you have to boil the Milk and then add Bay leaves and other ingredient . When the mixture become dense then add the soaked rice . Now cook upto the time the rice become soft . Now add different dry food an serve .

Throughout the India it is available . But in most of the sweet shops you don’t find this item . It is only made in some Home festivals . When you are hosted you may prefer to ask for a payasam or you can make it . It is very easy receipe.

RaBri :

Rabri is a sweet of Indian Sub Continent . You can find this sweet in India , Pakisthan and Bangladesh . In ancient Book of Manasamangal(a liturature of Bengal ) in 1400 century it was mentioned . So it is an ancient sweets prepared for more than a six century . It is sweet yellow/white coloured thick and semi liquid sweet . Where there is sar(After boiling of milk the thin solid layer float on milk ) mixed with condense milk.

Making of Rabri is very easy and very few ingredients are required to make it . First you have to boil the milk and then make the flame medium and start to collect sar in the side of the pan . Now o this process continues , until the milk become 1/6 th of the original quantity . After that add codimom powder and sugar in it . Next stir the condensed milk for five minutes . Now keep the pan cools for an hour . At this moment remove the thick layer of cream from the pan and mix with the conensed milk . Now your Rabri is ready . You may add some Badam or pista with it for enhancing taste .

You will find Rabri in bigger sweet shops in all over the Indian Subcontinent . In kolkata Deshbanhu sweet shop in Burabazar you can find good quality of Rabri.

RasHkadam :

Rashkadams are another famous bengali sweet which are specifically taken birth from the Maldah District . It is hard and dry from outside and sweet and juicey from inside . For making rashkadam three ingrident is required they are Chena , Khoya , Rice flour , sugar .

First you have to make condensed milk by boiling milk . Next mix rice flour with the milk and then pour the mixture into the condensed milk . Now mix the total mixture well so it can be distributed properly . Now press the chena well so it become smooth . Then make small ball and boil in the sugar syrup. Now coated this ball with the previous mixture and spread some poppy seed / dry khoya . Now your Raskadam/khir Kadam is ready to serve .

You can find it in any sweet shop in West Bengal and Bangladesh .

RosOgolla :

This white sponge balls are famous bengali sweet and called “Rosogolla” . If the rosogolla are fresh then it is as soft and looks like cotton ball . Rosogolla is full of sweet syrup. In most of the cases inside rosogolla is void . but Sometimes inside rosogolla you find yellow color stuff . It is very very tastey . Dependending upon the Size and scente it has different names like Kamala bhog , Rajbhog ect Also it has two types variety one in which sugar is uses to make sweet syrup another jiggery to made the sweet syrup . This is made of chhena . This sweets are baked with sweet syrup and when the size becomes bigger it stops cooking . In older days it is sold in clay pot we call it ‘Bhar’.

Everywhere in West Bengal you can find Rosogolla . Online you can also buy from KC Das Rosogolla . It is the most Famous brand of rosogolla . Some of my favourite sweet shop for rosogolla are Laxmi Narayan Misthanna Bhandar (Masat) , KC Das Rosogolla (Esplanade kolkata) , Deshbandhu Misthanna Bhandar (Barobazar kolkata) .

RosoMalai :

Rosomalai is like rosogolla and one of the famous bengali sweet . But it is dipped in condensed sweet milk (Malai) rather than sweet syrup. It is juicy , soft and melts in your mouth . Little saffron is mixed with the condensed milk to make the golden color of the milk . Some dry fruit like Kaju , pista are used for the garnishing . It is one of my favorite sweets in Bengal and very delicious . It tastes better when it is served cold . At that time from the condensed milk moisture gone a bit and makes it more delicious .

In Bengal and other part of India you can get this sweet in most of the sweet shops . This are my personal choice of sweet shops where you can get good quality rasomalai.

1. Laxmi Narayan Misthanna Bhander ( Masat )
2. Kamala Misthanna Bhander ( Sealdah )
3. KC Das sweets ( Esplanade )

SiTa Bhog :

Site Bhog is one of the famous bengali sweet made of chena and sabeda(It is a product of rice flour) . It tastes like sweet fried rice . This uses different spices for the aroma and small pantua on the top . This mixture is fried such a way that It does not become brown . It is not sticky and melts in the mouth . City of Burdwan is famous for this sweet. This sweet was made in the honour of Lord Curzon who visited the kingdom Burdwan . It is more than 100 years old sweet .

In any part of the bengal you can get the Sita Bhog but It is famous in the City of Burdwan . Specially near the Burdwan Railway station and the Burdwan University there is lots of sweets shop selling Sita Bhog .

Summary :

In bengal there is lots of famous sweets , specially sweets made of Chena . Rosogolla , pantua , bonde , sandesh , jilipi and rasamalai are some of the famous bengali sweets which are available in any part of West Bengal and also in Bangladesh . Bengali sweets are associated with every religious or cultural festivals . There is lots more sweets in bengal , if you know more , then can comment on the article . I will try to include it inside this list .