There is no meal in India that is finished without a dessert. You’ll always make space for this final course, no matter how stuffed you are, to conclude your feast on a sweet note! It may seem like an extravagant habit, but finishing your meal with a decent round of desserts has become something of a ritual. Indians, like everyone else, enjoy experimenting with their desserts, blending unusual ingredients and culinary approaches that can sometimes boggle the mind. These unusual Indian delicacies come in a variety of tastes and can be found in various sections of the nation. They should absolutely be on your culinary bucket list if you haven’t tasted them yet.
1. Basundi
Basundi is a famous dessert in Western India, particularly in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. It’s comparable to Rabdi, that is a popular North Indian dish. Both of these meals are rich milk-based dishes with fragrant spices that can be served hot or chilled. Rabri, on the other hand, has a dense, pudding-like consistency, but basundi is considerably thinner and flows more smoothly.
2. Karjikai
This dish has a crunchy texture yet melts on your tongue in just one bite. In contrast to Gujiya, this delicacy dish is made with rice flour, all-purpose flour, and semolina, which gives the filling a crispy texture.
3. Kashi Halwa
Kashi halwa, also known as Ash Gourd halwa, is a traditional Udupi sweet that melts in the tongue. With only a few ingredients and a few minutes, we can make this delicacy from ash gourd. It’s also known as dumroot or white pumpkin, and it goes by the names Buddkumbalakayi in Kannada and Petha in Hindi.
4. Poornum Boorelu
A classic Andhra sweet called Poornam Boorelu. It’s made by shaping sweet balls of black gram, jaggery, ghee, and coconut, then dipping them in a dosa batter and deep frying them till they’re crisp.
5. Belgaum Kunda
Belgaum kunda/Belagavi kunda is a popular sweet delicacy in Belgaum, North Karnataka. Milk, curd, sugar, and cardamom powder are the only ingredients used to make the kunda. Reduced milk is curdled with curd and then mixed in caramelised sugar. The delectable dish is ideal for any occasion, including festivals, home pujas, and get-together parties. The technique is to thicken the milk by cooking it and then curdling it with curd. The caramelised sugar gives the kunda a lovely colour and a caramel flavour. This sweet meal will appeal to children, who will appreciate its richness and texture. You can make tasty kunda with only five ingredients.
6. Ghevar
Ghevar is a traditional Rajasthani dessert linked with the Teej Festival. It’s a disc-shaped sugary treat made using all-purpose flour and sugary syrup.
7. Nankhatai
For those who are unaware, Nankhatai is derived from the Persian word ‘Naan,’ which means bread in English, and khatai, which means airy and flaky cookie. It refers to delicate and buttery biscuits or Indian shortbread cookies that are baked without the use of eggs or flavourings (baking powder and baking soda).
8. Pootharekulu
A fine rice sheet that has been creatively wrapped into rectangles and covered with ghee, sugar, or jaggery. This delectable dissolves in your tongue when you eat it, leaving a sweet memory and a lovely sensation. Pootharekulu, also known as Putharekulu, is a world-famous delicacy from Andhra Pradesh, India’s Coastal Andhra area.
9. Chiroti With Badam Milk
Badam Chiroti, also known as “Padhir Peni,” is a sweet poori with almond layers. It is also one of Karnataka’s most regal desserts. The multi-layered badam poori is bathed in sugar syrup or drowned in malai and is crisp and delicious. A true treat for our senses!
10. Gud papdi
Gud papdi has a delicate, flaky texture that melts in your lips. It doesn’t hold together as well as burfi or kaju katli. Yes, it is that delicate, and it will simply break or split off. The ghee contributes to the texture. You will become softer as you utilise more ghee.
13. Chhena Poda
In Odisha, chhena poda is a delectable treat. It’s cooked using fresh paneer or chhena. The whole meal is baked, and it’s also known as paneer cake. In English, the word chhena poda literally means “roasted cheese.” It is also believed that Lord Jagannath’s favourite sweet is chhena poda (the presiding deity of puri jagannath temple in Odisha). During festivals such as Diwali or Durga Pooja, chhena poda is also prepared.
12. Sheermal Roti
Sheermal is a popular Mughlai dish found throughout the Indo-Pak region. Sheermal roti is a delectable delicacy with its sweet flavour and saffron-golden colour. The Mughlai roti, which is traditionally baked in a tandoor, gets its flavour from the milk used to knead it. You may also make it on a tava for a rich and regal taste.
13. Puran Poli
A traditional Maharashtrian sweet flatbread made with wheat flour and stuffed with sweetened chana dal. It is typically prepared for special occasions or festivals, but it can be prepared and kept at any time. It’s best eaten or served hot with plenty of ghee, but it’s also delicious with the pickle.
14. Bengali Rabdi
Layers of cream (or lachedar malai) are immersed in thick sweetened evaporated milk to make rabri or rabdi, a delightful milk-based sweet or dessert. In order to make a classic shop like rabri, just two ingredients are required: milk and sugar, though cardamom powder is added to give it a unique flavor. Although people associate rabri with north India, it was first created during India’s royal age, when milk or malai-based sweets were frequently prepared in royal kitchens.
15. Gasagase Payasa
Gasagase Payasa or Poppy Seeds Pudding is a rich, creamy, and savoury traditional dessert or delicacy from Karnataka, India, made with coconut, jaggery (or sugar), and poppy seeds. This dish or sweet is served as prasadam at temples during festivals such as Ugadi, Navratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, Janmashtami, and Ram Navami, or on special occasions instead of rice kheer or vermicelli kheer.
16. Kharwas
Kharwas also known as Colostrum milk pudding and poss is a Goan recipe made with cow colostrum. Colostrum is known in Konkani as “keet” and Kannada as “junu.” This is a traditional kharwas recipe from Goa. Steaming is used to make a healthy Indian pudding. Colostrum is the first milky fluid generated when a calf is born by cows or buffaloes. The surplus colostrum is taken as soon as a calf is born and utilised to make this wonderful sweet colostrum pudding. Of course, there is some colostrum left behind for the calf. Antibodies, proteins, carbs, lipids, minerals, and vitamins abound in it. It also strengthens the immune system. So, if you happen to come across any cow or buffalo colostrum, give this Goan poss dish a try.
17. Bebinca
Bebinca, also known as bibik, is a popular Goan pudding. This dish consists of layers of cakes made with coconut milk, eggs, butter, and flour. Bebinca is traditionally made with seven to sixteen layers, but you can make it with as many as you want. Cooking this delightful delicacy takes time and care, but the final outcome is worth it, and you won’t be strong enough to resist this sugar heaven!
18. Dehrori
Dehrori is a typical Chhattisgarh dish that is made in almost every home during festivals like Holi and Diwali. It is a delicious treat that is highly tasty. Chhattisgarhi Dehrori is produced with a rice and curd batter that has been fermented overnight, as well as dumplings that have been deep fried in oil and drenched in sugar syrup.
19. Naap Naang
Nagaland’s Naap Naang is a unique and delectable sweet dessert. The very nutritious Naap Naang, a pudding prepared from black sticky rice and gently flavoured with sweet almonds, is full of fibre and can be enjoyed even by diabetics. This is due to the fact that black sticky rice is a type of carbohydrate that releases sugar slowly after digestion.
20. Khas Khas Halwa
Resemblance from our traditional Suji ka halwa , Khas Khas Halwa, is significantly more interesting in terms of flavour, texture, and appeal. The golden hues of this delicious, warming, and nourishing poppy seed dish will melt your heart in an instant. In North In dia, Khas Khas Halwa is usually cooked and consumed throughout the winter.
