For once, the poor cousin was on top. Howrah has beaten Calcutta in the race for the most innovative sweet in the Cadbury Mishti Shera Shristhi, in association with The Telegraph and Anandabazar Patrika contest. Kasturi, the innocuous sweet shop at Kadamtala, bagged the crown with its innovative ‘Unish-Kuri’ offering.

In the wake of such sweet revenge, its time to take a look at some of the town’s famous sweet dens, each specialising in an item or two. Every area has a landmark sweet shop whose popular items are renowned not just in that part of the town but across the district. Here is a look at some of Howrah’s specialities.

Kasturi

Address: 23/1/A, Bhagwan Chatterjee Lane, Kadamtala

Estd: 2007.

After the success of their restaurant Kichukshan, friends and business partners Pradip Bose and Sambhudas Banerjee decided to start a sweet shop right next to it. They first started with common items like golap jam, kaju barfi and kaju roll. Later, they introduced rosogolla and other sweets and also snacks.

Kasturi’s award-winning ‘Unish-Kuri’

Specialities: Kasturi is known for sweets like milkose sandesh, papaya sandesh, carrot sandesh (made in winter) and aamsatta sandesh. After winning the Cadbury misti contest, Bose and his new partner Sukanta Mukherjee, have also started keeping some of their chocolate sweets which they had made for the contest. The counter now has a separate space for Cadbury padma, brown beauty, crunchy choco ball, misti budy-D, chocoberry and a number of other sweets. “We have already started getting orders for the Cadbury sweets for weddings and other occasions,” said Pradip Bose.

trade secret: The award-winning ‘Unish-Kuri’ looks like a cup of liquid chocolate. The chhana (cottage cheese) is mixed with molten chocolate. After the sandesh is moulded, the same molten chocolate is poured into the centre of the sweet.

Another of Kasturi’s popular items is the milkose sandesh. The chhana is diluted with milk to make it into a paste and poured in a tray. The tray is then refrigerated for 12 hours for the sandesh to set. After that, the frozen sandesh is cut into square pieces and served.

The papaya sandesh is quite an innovation at this shop. Even those who do not like papaya will fall for this one. Raw papaya is grated and lightly steamed. Chhana is stirred on the flame for a while till it forms a semi-solid texture. The papaya is then mixed with the chhana and put into a tray. It is then refrigerated for eight hours before being cut into pieces and served.

(Left) Milkose and papaya sandesh from Kasturi. Pictures by Gopal Senapati

other specialities: Laddu, kaju barfi, golap jam and savouries like raj kachori, vegetable patties, Chinese singara

Pocket pinch: Cadbury chocolate sandesh have been priced between Rs 10 and 15. Papaya sandesh – Rs 6, milkose sandesh – Rs 7

Pradip Bose at the shop

Customerspeak:

I regularly buy sweets from Kasturi. The new range of Cadbury chocolate sweets that they have introduced are quite popular among my family members

Prabir Ghosh, a resident of Netaji Subhas Road.

Kasturi has a wide range of sweets that fits every pocket. While they have expensive sweets like the new Cadbury range, they also keep sweets worth Rs 3 or 4. Their quality of sweets is also good.

Ranjan Paludhi, former resident of Netaji Subhas Road, now living in Salt Lake.

Annapurna Mistanna Bhandar

Pantua

Address: Makardah Station, Opposite Barababar Mandir, Makardah, Domjur

Estd: Ninety years ago, Panchanan Ghosh established a small murki and fritters stall near the Martin Rail station in Makardah. Later, his son Hrishikesh Ghosh started selling sweets from the stall. With time, Annapurna Mistanna Bhandar’s pantua became a popular item in Domjur and Howrah. Earlier, they would make the sweet from chhana bought from the market but now they make it at the shop.

Speciality: Annapurna Mistanna Bhandar’s pantua is a hot favourite among residents of Howrah and Calcutta as well. Under the hard golden brown cover is a soft ball of chhana and kheer that melts in the mouth. “One of the reasons for the taste is that we always use Lakshmi desi ghee to fry the pantuas. We have never compromised on that. Also, we fry the sweet twice which is why the inside is cooked better,” said Naren Ghosh, son of Hrishikesh Ghosh.

Bonde

trade secret: Chhana and flour are taken in equal portions and mixed together and made into balls. The pantua is stuffed with a a small ball of kheer in the centre and fried twice in ghee. After that, the pantua is dipped in sugar syrup.

Other specialities: Bonde and misti doi

pocket pinch: Pantua is available in three sizes – Rs 5, Rs 8, Rs 10, bonde – Rs 180 per kg and misti doi – Rs 140 per kg

Customerspeak:

Annapurna’s pantua is always a special item during any occasion at my house. I even sent them in my daughter’s trousseau to Hyderabad

Shyamal Belel, a resident of Domjur

Buyers at Annapurna Mistanna Bhandar

Although we live in Ramrajatala, the pantua from Annapurna Mistanna Bhandar is a compulsion on every family occasion. About 10 years back some of our family members were going to Narna to offer puja at the Shiva temple. On their way back, they had tasted the pantua at Annapurna and liked it. Since then it has become a tradition at our house to bring the sweet from Domjur for any occasion

Kaushik Bhattacharya, a resident of Ramrajatala

Subhas Sweets

Address: 164/1, Mahendra Bhattacharya Road, Santragachhi More

Kesar sandesh

Estd: 1983. This 30-year-old shop was started by Gopal Bhowmick, who sold savouries like samosas and kachoris. His son, Subhas Bhowmick, later took over and introduced popular sweets. With time, the shop has gained popularity among residents of Ramrajatala and adjoining areas. As it has grown in size, Subhas Sweets has also introduced new sweets on its counter.

Speciality:: Kesar sandesh

trade secret: Chhana is mixed with sugar and cooked well after which the kesar is added. The mixture is poured into a tray and frozen after which it is cut into pieces and served cold.

Other items: Kesar bhog, Raj bhog, butter roll and different types of traditional sandesh are available

Pocket pinch: Kesar bhog – Rs 5 per piece, kesar sandesh – Rs 6 per piece, butter roll – Rs 10 per piece

Kesar bhog

Customerspeak:

Although Subhas is not one of the oldest sweet shops in Ramrajatala, it is popular because of the variety that customers find here. The kesar bhog is good and one can get it hot if one goes in the evening. They make both traditional as well as creative items which is why people visit the shop frequently.

Soumya Bhattacharya, a resident of Mahendra Bhattacharya Road

I like the kesar bhog and raj bhog that they sell in the evenings. If I go in time, I can get them warm. The new chocolate and kesar sandesh are also good. I have noticed that their quality has improved over the years.

Basab Mukherjee, a resident of Ghoshpara, Mahendra Bhattacharya Road

Satyanarayan Mistanna Bhandar

Address: LMC Sarani, Baksara Bazar

Kaju pista sandesh and kesar sandesh

Estd: 1920. Gour Mohan Bej sold batasha and murki in the neighbourhood. He later started making rosogolla and pantua as well and started a permanent establishment at Baksara Bazar. Later his son, Aswini Kumar Bej introduced sandesh at the store. At present Samir Bej and Sajal Bej are running the shop that almost always runs out of stock in the evening trying to keep up with the demand for sweets in the locality and outside.

Speciality: Kaju pista sandesh and kesar sandesh

trade secret: The chhana is kneaded well after which sugar is added. Cashewnuts cut into small pieces are added to the mixture that is spread out on a tray. A layer of kheer is poured over the tray and pista is used to garnish. Cubes of sandesh are cut out and served. In case of kesar sandesh, the cashew nuts are roasted before adding and instead of pista, kesar is added from the top. “These are mildly sweet sandesh and a person can easily eat more than one,” said Samir Bej.

Other items: Rosogolla, cream roll (made occasionally), golap jam

Pocket pinch: Kaju pista sandesh – Rs 7 per piece, kesar sandesh – Rs 7 per piece, cream roll – Rs 10 per piece

Chocolate balls

Customerspeak:

We are regular customers at Satyanarayan Mistanna Bhandar for many years. We have grown up having sweets from this shop. As children, I remember having jalebis worth five paise from this shop for breakfast. We have sweets from many places but we always prefer Satyanarayan’s products. Their new and innovative items like kaju pista and kesar sandesh are good.

Prabir Bera, a resident of Ghoshpara, Baksara

We have been buying sweets since childhood from Satyanarayan Mistanna Bhandar. Almost all varieties of sweets are available here and their prices are also competitive.

Jagannath Biswas, resident of Ghoshpara, Baksara

Kabanas

Address: 214, Goswamipara Road, Bally

Estd: 1995. The shop started 18 years ago with five partners. Amarnath Jana showed the way for his nephews, who had just passed out of college and had nothing to do. Today the shop has 12 partners, not all of them are from the family. They set off with kachuri and fritters and later moved on to sandesh and some traditional sweets. With time new sweets have filled the counter. Sweets from Kabanas go to Calcutta, Howrah and Hooghly and across the country and people always come back for more. A new branch of Kabanas has opened near Belur station.

(From left) Baikuntha bhog, chocolate ball and malai tota

Speciality: There are many. Starting from butterscotch sandesh, kesar pista sandesh to baikuntha bhog, butter roll, sarbati and malai tota, the list is endless. But Sarbati is their best sweet.

Sarbati

trade secret: Sarbati looks like a small bowl of white cream. The bowl has a cham cham base with thick milk cream on the sides. A thick layer of milk cream sweetened and decorated with kesar is poured in the bowl. The makers suggest not to use a spoon but to bite into the sweet whole so that one gets the different tastes of the ingredients together.

For malai tota, the milk is made into chhana using curd. The chhana is then heated and ghee and cashew nuts are mixed in it. The mixture is put on a tray and cooled after which it is cut into cubes.

Other items: Abar khabo, pran hara, kheerer golap jam, lal mohan

Pocket pinch: Malai tota – Rs 7 per piece, Sarbati – Rs 10 per piece, lal mohan – Rs 4 per piece

Customers at Kabanas

Customerspeak:

I have been buying sweets for the past 18 years from this shop. Whenever I come to Bally to visit my relatives or for some work, I make it a point to pick up some sweets. All varieties of sandesh from Kabanas are popular in my family

Ashim Karar, Salkia

I get a lot of variety at Kabanas, specially in sandesh. Their butterscotch sandesh is quite good and I also like their rosogolla and kaju barfi

Subrata Banerjee, a resident of Bally