A wide array for the sweet-toothed from Banchharam; (below) Baked Mihidana With Rabri from 6 Ballygunge Place. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

The time has come to draw the curtains on the five-day festive fun. And what better way to say goodbye to the goddess than with sweets on Bijoya Dashami? No visit to the homes of relatives and friends is complete during Bijoya without a plateful of pantua or a serving of sandesh. And shops around the city assure that the madness for mishti is only becoming bigger this year.

?Pujor diney Bangali mishti chhara bhabtei parey na (the Bengali can?t think of the Pujas without mishti),? says Subhajit Ghosh of Banchharam, the 25-year old South Calcutta sweetspot. ?This year, sales are looking better than last year,? he adds. Abar Khabo Sandesh, Chocogolla (kanchagolla with a chocolate paste on top) and Malai Sandesh are the puja specials that are flying off the Banchharam shelves.

At the other end of town, at Girish Chandra Dey and Nakur Chandra Nandy ? better known as Nakur ? the top picks of the season are Chandan Sandesh (made from chandan extracts), different kinds of fruit sandesh (orange, pineapple, mango and strawberry) and Chandrapuli. ?The sales start picking up Saptami onwards and continue till Laxmi Puja,? says Prasanta Nandy, the great grandson of Nakur Chandra Nandy and currently a partner at the Ramdulal Sarkar Street store.

At another sweet specialist?s, Bhim Chandra Nag, the flavour of the season is Paan Sandesh (ice cream flavoured sandesh with kaju and kishmish). ?We see a rush from Mahalaya onwards which continues till the Pujas start,? offers owner Pradip Nag. ?Then, it continues from Bijoya Dashami to Bhaiphonta.? Bhim Nag?s Puja menu includes Lal Rajbhog (not coloured but done till brown), and traditional favourites like Dilkhush, Abar Khabo and Monohora.

It?s not only the traditional Bengali rosogolla and sandesh haunts that see a surge in sales but also the non-Bengali shops. ?We?re having a rosogolla utsav this Puja,? says Rajesh Gupta of Gupta Brothers. Dedicated to the sweet tooth of the city, on offer are flavoured rosogollas, including mango, kiwi, chocolate and even dry fruit-stuffed rosogolla. Chocolate Sohanpapri, Mango Mishti Doi and Butterscotch Rosomalai are the other draws. Special karigars from Kanpur (famous for its laddoo) have been brought in for the period.

?This year there?s good response from the corporates as well,? says Rajesh Gupta.

But some prefer to wait out the Puja rush and unleash their arsenal a little later. ?We don?t do anything special now since our prime time is during Bhaiphonta,? is the word from Sen Mahasay. Delicacies like Deshgourab Sandesh (pudding inside sandesh) and Shorer Roll stack the shelves then.

One notable difference this year, point out some shops, is the trend towards sweets that are less sweet. ?That might be the result of Calcuttans suddenly turning health conscious,? feels Ghosh from Banchharam. Gupta Brothers? special ?kom mishti? Balushahi is another step in this direction.

So, syrupy or dry, less or more mishti, stack up and say ?Shubho Bijoya? with sweets.

Do it yourself

(Courtesy 6 Ballygunge Place)

BAKED MIHIDANA WITH RABRI

Ingredients:

150 g besan, 1 kg ghee, 1 kg sugar, 10 g almond, ? g kesar, 10 g pista, 5 g elaichi powder, 175 g rabri.

Method:

Mix besan with water into a semi-thick paste. Heat ghee in a kadai and make mihidana by passing the besan batter through a perforated ladle. Dip the mihidana in syrup and strain it. Mix mihidana with elaichi powder and half of kesar, sliced almonds and pista. In a baking bowl, set the mihidana and top it with rabdi. Sprinkle the remaining almond, pista and kesar on top. Bake for five minutes and serve warm.

CHHANAR MALPOA

Ingredients:

500 g chhana, 75 g maida, 75 g khoa, 100 g kaju, ? g kesar, 65 g elaichi powder, 1 kg sugar syrup, ghee for frying.

Method:

Mix chhana, maida, khoa, soaked kaju, elaichi powder and bring it to the shape of a malpoa with a moist cloth. Deep fry and then dip the malpoa in syrup. Take out from the syrup and serve warm.