A platter of sweets (2024)Lucknow Bioscope
Lucknowwalas have a sweet tooth and a variety of mithais to choose from. Some sweets are available seasonally, some at a fixed time of the day, others at festival time and most of them all the year round. They may be milk based, made from gram, wheat or lentil flour, sometimes use dried fruits or seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, and are sweetened with sugar or jaggery.
Kali gajar halwa from Haji sweets (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
A jalebi is a crisp, fried , golden round of flour batter soaked in sugar syrup and is a morning mithai. Its look-alike, thicker version, the imarti, is made of lentil batter and sells in the afternoon. Kali gajar halwa is a winter sweet when black carrots are in season and raw mango kheer, made from thickened milk, sugar, and raw mango pulp, is a summer sweet.
Andarsa being cooked at Haji sweet shop (2024)Lucknow Bioscope
Come monsoon time, shops and hawkers sell andarse ki goli which are deep-fried rounds of sweetened rice - flour batter coated with sesame seeds. Malai paan is made from top -of -the -milk fresh cream, stuffed with granulated sugar and chopped dried fruits and folded into a triangle. Nimish, a milk - based hand whipped sweet is a frothy winter confection.
Kulfi being taken out at Jagjivan lal Kulfi (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
There are a large variety of milk-based sweets called burfis, usually of thickened milk cut into squares or diamond shapes. A kulfi may be likened to a frozen dessert, made from full- cream thickened milk to which chopped dried fruits and flavourings have been added. Gujias are crecent shaped casings made of refined flour, stuffed with roasted and sweetened milk solids, and are sold only for the festival of Holi.
Balushahi and other variety of sweets being displayed at JD Mishtaan Bhandaara (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
The ever popular , reasonably priced laddoo , a sweetened ball , mostly made of gram flour, sometimes combined with milk solids, often signifying a celebration , is readily available with most sweet vendors at all times. Balushahis are deep fried balls of lightly kneaded refined flour dipped in sugar syrup, popularly given as token gifts at weddings.
Lucknow bioscope Sweets banner (2024)Lucknow Bioscope
1. Ram Asrey
In 1805, when the Chhattar Manzil was newly built and the Qaiserbagh palaces were not even thought of, Ram Asrey set up a sweet shop. He began with peda and flavoured sugar candy. Ram Asrey had the technical prowess to crystallize aromatic khas, elaichi and zafraan with cane sugar. He then invented the malai gilouri or malai paan , that six generations after him have made famous throughout the world.
It is said that Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was prescribed the malai paan by his physician to help him overcome his addiction to paan. The royal physician opined that the Nawab would forget the betel leaf if the malai paan was served to him! This confection is prepared from a thick layer of cream that forms on milk that has been cooked for a long time over a low flame. This thick sheet of cream is wrapped around a stuffing composed of milk solids, nuts and their flavoured candied sugar.
Ambiance photo of Ram Asrey (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
Babloo Tripathi who is in charge of the establishment tells us, “Ram Asrey Halwai is the oldest sweet shop in Lucknow that has continued in operation for six generations. We have many branches, but what you get in our branch cannot be matched by others. Nawabs, kings, and after independence, prime ministers have enjoyed sweets that we make. Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpeyee agreed on only one issue — Ram Asrey’s malai paan is one of the best sweets in the country!
Variety of sweets on display at Ram Asrey (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
Till the 1950s and ‘60s, ours was the only establishment where the malai paan could be had. In those times, blotting paper was used to soak up excess ink from written documents. Some halwai tried to make a malaai paan with blotting paper , but obviously the discerning people of Lucknow gave him a bad name! Nowadays, many sell malai paan, but there is nobody quite like us.
We also sell halwa made of red or black carrots and sohan halwa in the winters. Anyone who tastes our halwa, never settles for halwa from anywhere else. We sell many other kinds of sweets, savouries, nuts and dry fruits, about which I will just say ‘taste and see for yourself!" The most endearing feature of this establishment that we noticed was that if a small child wants to buy something worth merely five rupees and a customer who has ordered sweets worth Rs 500 is waiting, it is the child who is given priority .
2. Laddoo Chanakya
When he was 17, Darshan Singh ran away from his home in Faizabad. He moved to Kanpur, and got a job at a shop that was renowned for making kulfi. One day, the then Chief Secretary to the Government of Uttar Pradesh came to have some kulfi. Darshan Singh recognised him, because they were distantly related. When he was paying his bill, Darshan Singh came up to him, and said “Do you intend to get off so cheaply?” The bureaucrat was taken aback, but Darshan Singh went on “If you could help me acquire a shop in Lucknow, I too will become a respectable shopkeeper. You are my uncle through so-and-so, after all!”
Gond ka laddu and peda from Chanakya laddu (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
The Secretary was amused at Darshan Singh’s audacity, and when in 1983, shops built along a section of the outer wall of the stadium were to be allotted, he did help his ‘nephew’ acquire one. Darshan Singh started out with laddoos laden with nuts and candied sugar, with acacia gum to bind the granular mixture together. Peda, burfi, buttermilk and kulfi were also available.
Darshan singh who is the owner of Chankaya laddu (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
The signboard said “Netaji’s Shop — don’t be scared: we may be cheats but aren’t robbers.” When admonished, he agreed to the tame-sounding “Laddoo Chanakya.” People used to say then ‘this rustic will ruin the whole market.’ But the shop is justifiably famous today. Especially for its advertisements.
3. Haji ji the Laddu Wala/The Sweet Shop Underneath the Tree
Haji Abdul Gafoor came to Lucknow 70-80 years back from a small town near Gonda and Bahraich. He set up shop under the shade of this very tree, where it is currently located. His son Mohammad Sharif, followed by his son Mohammad Faisal and now, as the representative of the fourth generation, Faizan has succeeded to the position.
Laddoos from Haji Sweets (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
The experiment succeeded, and was followed by more inventions—perfumed laddoos and (according to Faizan), andarse ki goli for the first time ever in Lucknow. Faizan also recalls that the shop was demolished by municipal authorities at one time. When they re-opened in the monsoon month of Savan, the first thing to be prepared was andarse ki goli. The Lucknow tradition of having andarse ki goli during the monsoons started from then onwards and continues today.
Andarsa being cooked at Haji sweet shop (2024)Lucknow Bioscope
At first, patti (caramel toffee with peanuts) was sold here. Then they diversified to include nuqti/boondi (tiny, deep-fried pellets of chick pea flour soaked in sugar syrup). Quite a bit of nuqti would be left over at the end of the day, so Abdul Gafoor thought, why not mix it with milk solids and form it into laddoos?
4. Netram
Ajay Kumar tells us that his ancestor Net Ram was originally from Mathura. In 1854, he set up an establishment known as Net Ram, Mool Chand Sweets in Allahabad. The town still has an important crossroads named Net Ram Chauraha. He had two sons — Mool Chand and Bhim Singh. In 1922, Bhim Singh came to Lucknow to set up a stall in a fair, while Mool Chand stayed back in Allahabad.
Gulab jamun and Gajar ka halwa from Netram (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
The reception that Bhim Singh got from the people of Lucknow was so encouraging that he decided to set up shop here itself. They don't serve chole with pooris—instead, they serve sabzi made with potatos and pumpkins, with accompaniments of raita and achar. Employees have worked here since they were very young. Ram Mantri, for example, who makes jalebi and imarti has been at his post for the past 50 years. Chunni Lal makes khasta, samosa and pooris.
Imarti is being cooked at Ram Asrey. (2024)Lucknow Bioscope
Ram Nath is responsible for all the sweets made with chhena (cheese curds) . After him, his son Lala Lal; his grandson, Ajay Agrawal; great-grandson, Anoop Agrawal and currently great-great grandson Amol Agrawal has taken over. Jalebis are still poured out into the frying pan from a hole in the base of a copper vessel copper vessel. Netram's balushahi is soft and fluffy as cotton ball .
5. Chhappan Bhog
Khshitij Gupta recounts that his father Ramsharan Gupta started this sweet shop along with his brothers Vinod Gupta and Shekhar Gupta in 1992. They laid the foundation of a long-term relationship with customers from a small shop in the Sadar area of the Cantonment. They named the establishment Chappan Bhog as a tribute to Lord Krishna, who was said to have been served 56 dainty dishes at the end of his labours of lifting up Mount Govardhan.
The entire family pitched in to develop the Chhappan Bhog brand. Khshitij’s father had some advice to offer for winning the confidence of consumers. “We should understand what customers want, and not impose our taste on them. We will succeed if we work with complete honesty and utmost effort to deliver what the customer likes.” The journey that started then has led to the establishment of the brand as a household name. Not just in the town or the state, but across the world.
"Exotia" sweets from Chappan BhogLucknow Bioscope
Their walnut burfi is much in demand these days. On the occasion of the festival of Holi, a special bahubali gujiya is prepared. It is 14 inches long and weighs 1.5 kilograms. Stuffed with a filling of reduced milk solids mixed with saffron, shredded almonds and pistachio nuts and loaded with sugar, the gujiya takes 20-25 minutes of deep-frying in desi ghee to get done. Khshitij claims that their establishment sells the highest-priced sweet in all of India.
Ambiance photo of Chappan Bhog (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the shop served customers across the world with sweets and savouries flavoured with saffron, cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon, turmeric, fenugreek, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, carom seeds, bay leaves and nutmeg. It is believed that these condiments contain substances that help to keep disease at bay.
Jalebi is being taken out of sugar syrup (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
They call it the “exotica” and it costs 50 thousand rupees a kilogram. The ingredients include blueberries from America, macadamia nuts from South Africa and Australia, and hazelnuts from Europe. Pine nuts, saffron and mamra almonds are also added. Early morning crowds at Chappan Bhog savour the khasta with savoury potatoes, and tiny golden rounds of crisp jalebis. The eye-catching advertisement campaign run by Chhappan Bhog is also enjoyed by the people of Lucknow.
6. India King
Nimish is a sweet and frothy treat, a winter delight found at the iconic Gol Darwaza In Lucknow. Pale yellow in colour, it is delicately flavoured with saffron and cardamom, covered with warq and served with a sprinkling of chopped pistachio nuts. Kake, who runs Makkhan King, the 75-80 year old outlet established by his grandfather Gomti Prasad says, “ Even today we hand whip chilled milk and collect the froth.
This is carefully placed in the open air before dawn so that icy morning dew can moisten it. This is the crucial step.” Kake's father and grandfather used to have their working hours from 6am to 11am. Now they are open for business from early morning upto late evening. Their daily turnover is 25-30 kg of nimish and the going rate is Rs 500/kg. There are many accounts of the origin of this sweet that are the stuff of myth and legend.
Nimish also known as Malai Makhan is being taken out to serve to the customers (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
Some trace its origins to nawabi times. Some, like Kake, claim that they use the same technique as the one that was used for making this confection for Lord Krishna ( a God from the Hindu pantheon) by his mother. Yet others hyperbolically claim that it is samundri jhag (foam from the sea). A variation of this sweet goes by the name daulat ki chaat in Delhi and malaiyo in Varanasi.
