List of Indian sweets and desserts

This is a list of Indian sweets and desserts, also called mithai, a significant element in Indian cuisine. It spans the regions of Pakistan and Bangladesh as well, since both countries were parts of India before 1947. Many Indian desserts are fried foods made with sugar, milk or condensed milk. Ingredients and preferred types of dessert vary by region. In the eastern part of India, for example, most are based on milk products. Many are flavoured with almonds and pistachios, spiced with cardamon, nutmeg, cloves and black pepper, and decorated with nuts, or with gold or silver leaf.^[1]

North

Name	Image	Main ingredients	Category
Agra petha		Firm white pumpkin, sugar, kitchen lime, alum powder etc.	Sugar syrup based
Badam halwa		Almonds, ghee	Halva
Balushahi		Maida flour, yogurt, oil, sugar	Sugar syrup based
Besan laddu		Gram flour (besan), ghee, sugar	Laddu
Boondi			Sugar syrup based
Gajar ka halwa		Carrots, milk, sugar, ghee, cashews and raisins	Halva
Gajar ki barfi		Dried milk with ground cashews, pistachios or peanuts, often with edible silver foil as decoration[2]	Barfi
Ghevar		Flour, ghee, kewra, milk, clarified butter, sugar, almonds, pistachio, saffron, green cardamom	Fried, sugar syrup based
Gulab jamun		Fried milk balls soaked in sweet syrup, such as rose syrup or honey.[3]	Fried, sugar syrup based
Imarti		Sugar syrup, lentil flour	Fried, sugar syrup based
Jalebi		Dough fried in a coil shape dipped in sugar syrup, often taken with milk, tea, yogurt, or lassi.[4]	Fried, sugar syrup based
Kada prasad		Wheat flour, sugar, nuts, ghee	Halva
Kaju katli		Cashews, ghee with cardamom and sugar.[5]	Barfi
Kala jamnu
Kalakand		Milk, cottage cheese	Burfi
Kheer		A rice pudding made with milk, rice, sugar and dried fruits[6]	Dessert
Khopra paak		Milk, coconut, sugar	Burfi
Kulfi[7]		An ice cream made with milk and sugar, with a variety of flavours such as mango, saffron, or cardamom.[8]	Ice cream
Motichoor laddu		Besan flour, sugar	Laddu
Lassi		Yogurt, milk, nuts, can be made with mango (mango lassi)	Yogurt drink
Malai ki gilauri		Milk cream, chhena, khoya
Malai laddu		Milk cream	Laddu
Malai pan		Milk cream
Malpua		A type of pancake, made of wheat or rice flour, deep fried and dipped in sugar syrup.[9]
Meetha lola		Wheat flour, Sugar, ghee	Sweet roti
Mung halwa		Milk, mung bean, dal (lentil), dry fruits	Halva
Nankhatai		Refined flour (maida), gram flour (besan), ghee, powdered sugar, yogurt, green cardamom seeds	Flour based sweet
Peda		Milk
Phirni		Rice, sugar, nuts	pudding
Rabri		A sweet, condensed milk-based dish made by boiling the milk on low heat for a long time until it becomes dense and changes its color to pinkish. Sugar, spices and nuts are added for flavour. It is chilled and served as a dessert.[10]	pudding
Ras malai		Chhena, reduced milk, pistachio	Dessert
Rasgulla		Chhena, sugar	Milk-based
Rava laddu		Semolina, coconut, sugar, ghee	Laddu
Sevai kheer		Vermicelli, sugar, nuts	pudding
Sheera		Semolina, ghee, nuts, milk	Pudding
Singori		Milk, coconut, molu leaf
Sohan halwa		Corn flour, ghee, dry fruits	Halva
Sohan papdi, pateesa		Besan flour	Barfi
Teerangi barfi

East

Name	Image	Main ingredients	Remarks
Abar-khabo			Milk-based
Amriti			Urad flour based
Chhena gaja		Chhena, sugar, ghee	Milk-based
Chhena jalebi		Chhena, sugar, ghee	Milk-based
Chhena kheeri		Chhena, sugar, milk	Milk-based
Chhena payesh			Milk-based
Chhena poda			Milk-based
Cham cham		Flour, cream, sugar, saffron, lemon juice, coconut flakes	Milk-based
Jal-bhora			Milk-based
Kadapak			Milk-based
Kalo jam			Milk-based
Kancha-golla
Kheer er chop			Milk-based
Kheer sagar			Milk-based
Komolabhog			Milk-based
Ledikeni		Chhena, sugar, ghee	Milk-based
Lyangcha			Milk-based
Malapua (dessert)			Milk-based
Mihidana		Besan flour, sugar, ghee	Besan-based
Misti doi			Milk-based
Narkeler naru			Coconut-based
Pantua		Chhena, sugar, ghee	Milk-based
Pati shapta			Milk-based
Pithe			Milk-based
Pranohora
Rabri			Milk-based
Rajbhog			Milk-based
Rasabali			Milk-based
Rasgulla		Chhena, sugar	Milk-based
Raskadamba			Milk-based
Ras malai		Chhena, milk, sugar	Milk-based
Sandesh (several types)		Made from cheese, kneaded with fine ground sugar and molasses.[11]	Milk-based
Shor bhaja
Shor puria
Sitabhog		Rice flour, chhena, sugar, ghee	Milk-based

South

Name	Image	Main ingredients	Remarks
Ada		Rice flour, grated coconut, jaggery or sugar
Adhirasam		Rice flour, jaggery, ghee, vegetable oil, elachi
Ariselu		Rice flour, jaggery, ghee
Badam halwa		Almonds, ghee	Burfi/paste
Badushaah		Maida flour, sugar syrup
Bandar laddu		Besan, jaggery, cardamom powder, ghee, cashews and raisins, jaggery syrup, sugar	Laddu, popular in Machilipatanam, Andhra Pradesh[12]
Bellam garelu		Black gram, jaggery
Bellam pasham		Wheat flour, jaggery
Coconut Burfi		Grated coconut, butter, sugar/jaggery, cardamom, fired gram, milk	Burfi
Coconut laddu		Coconut, sugar syrup, cardamom
Dharwad pedha			Burfi
Dhudh pedha		Khova	Burfi
Double ka meetha		Loaf bread, milk
Gavvalu		Rice flour
Halbai		Ground wheat, milk	Burfi
Jaangiri		Black gram	Fry syrup based
Kakinada khaja		Wheat flour, sugar
Kajjikaayalu		Wheat flour, coconut powder, Bengal gram, sugar
Karjikai		Wheat flour, cardamom, coconut, raisins
Kashi halva		Grated pumpkin	Halva
Kozhakkatta		Rice flour, sugar/molasses, coconut, cardamom
Kozhikode halwa
Kozhukattai (kolukattai or kudumulu)		Rice flour, jaggery
Kuzhi paniyaram		Black lentils and rice
Manoharam		Rice flour, gram flour, jaggery, ghee
Mysore pak		Besan flour, semolina, mung bean, jaggery, coconut, skimmed milk powder, sugar, ghee	Burfi
Neyyapam, modakam, ksheera-kesari, sukiyan, pazham pori
Obbattu / holige		Maida flour	Bread
Pal kozhukkatai		Rice Flour, coconut grated, jaggery, milk, cardamom, salt
Palathalikalu		Rice flour, milk
Peni
Poornalu		Chana dal, jaggery
Pootharekulu		Rice flour, powdered sugar/ghee
Qubani ka meetha		Apricots, sugar syrup
Rava laddu		Semolina, coconut, sugar, ghee
Sajjige		Rava (semolina)
Sarkarapuratty		Banana, sugar/molasses, dried ginger powder
Sheer korma		Vermicelli pudding, milk
Sundalu		Black Gram, sugar, ghee, cardamom
Unni Appam		Rice flour, banana, jaggery, coconut

West

Name	Image	Main ingredients	Remarks
Aamras		Alphonso mango pulp, sugar, nutmeg
Adadiyu		Udad dal flour, sugar, ghee, dry fruits
Anarsa		Slightly fermented rice flour, jaggery, khus-khus seeds
Basundi		Sugar, milk
Chirote		Maida flour	Fried
Coconut cake (Naralachi wadi)		Rice, coconut, sugar/jaggery, dry fruits, ghee	Cooked, dried till it forms cakes
Coconut rice (narali bhat)		Rice, coconut, sugar/jaggery, dry fruits, ghee	cooked
Dhondas		Cucumber, rava	Baked cake
Dinkache ladoo, gond laddu		Fried dinka, sugar, dry fruits, kharik powder, ghee, coconut
Doodhpak		Milk, rice, sugar, dry fruits	Milk-based
Dudhi halwa		Dudhi, milk, sugar
Gavhachi kheer / Dalia kheer		Sugar, milk, dalia, nutmeg
Gharge		Wheat flour, grated pumpkin, jaggery	Fried
Ghari		Maida, Ghee
Gol papadi		Wheat flour, jaggery, ghee	Jaggery based
Gul poli		Wheat flour, gul, ghee	Jaggery based
Kaju katli		Cashews, ghee
Karanji		Flour, coconut, sugar/jaggery, maida, khoa	Baked/fried
Kharwas		Colostrum	Steamed
Magas		Sugar, ghee, gram
Mahim halwa		Semolina, sugar
Modak		Maida flour, coconut jaggery stuffing	Fried
Modak ukkadicha		Rice flour, coconut jaggery stuffing	Steamed
Mohan thaal		Besan, sugar syrup, ghee	Sugar syrup based
Narali bhaat		Coconut crush, sugar syrup, ghee, rice	Coconut based
Phanas poli		Wheat flour, phanas (jackfruit), ghee	Jaggery based
Puran poli		Wheat flour, gram, jaggery	Bread
Rava / besan ladoo		Chickpea flour/semolina, raisins	Baked
Shankarpali		Sugar, ghee, maida flour, semolina
Shikran		Milk, banana, sugar	Banana fruit salad
Shrikhand		A creamy dessert made out of strained yogurt, often served with dried fruits such as mangoes.[13]	Yoghurt-based
Sudha ras		Sugar, water, lemon, saffron
Sutar feni		Maida, sugar, ghee
Sweet potato halwa (ratala che kaap)		Sweet potato, sugar/jaggery, ghee	Baked

Pan-Indian

Name	Image	Main ingredients	Remarks
Barfi			Burfi
Halva		Semolina	Boiled
Kheer		Milk, rice/noodles	Milk-based
Laddoo		Milk, flour
Peda		Milk (khoya), sugar	Milk-based

See also

• Indian sweets
• List of Indian snack foods
• List of pastries

References

1. Alan Davidson (2014). Tom Jaine, ed. The Oxford Companion to Food (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 410–411. ISBN 0-19-967733-6.
2. Lois Sinaiko Webb (28 December 1995). Holidays of the World Cookbook for Students. ABC-CLIO. pp. 193–. ISBN 978-0-89774-884-1. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
3. Priya Wickramasinghe; Carol Selva Rajah (1 February 2005). Food of India. Murdoch Books. pp. 264–. ISBN 978-1-74045-472-8. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
4. Lise Winer (16 January 2009). Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago: On Historical Principles. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. pp. 460–. ISBN 978-0-7735-3406-3. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
5. Elizabeth M. Collingham (2006). Curry: A Tale of Cooks And Conquerors. Oxford University Press. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-0-19-517241-6. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
6. Subodh Kapoor (1 July 2002). The Indian Encyclopaedia. Cosmo Publications. p. 1745. ISBN 978-81-7755-257-7. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
7. Caroline Liddell, Robin Weir, Frozen Desserts: The Definitive Guide to Making Ice Creams, Ices, Sorbets, Gelati, and Other Frozen Delights, Macmillan, 1996, ISBN 978-0-312-14343-5, ... Kulfi is the traditional Indian ice cream and has a strongly characteristic cooked-milk flavour and dense icy texture. ... The basis of making kulfi is to reduce a large volume of milk down to a very small concentrated amount ...
8. Malvi Doshi (1 November 2002). Cooking Along the Ganges: The Vegetarian Heritage of India. iUniverse. pp. 448–. ISBN 978-0-595-24422-5. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
9. Gil Marks (10 September 2010). Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 382–. ISBN 978-0-470-39130-3. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
10. Mohini Sethi (1 January 2008). Institutional Food Management. New Age International. pp. 850–. ISBN 978-81-224-1525-4. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
11. Priya Wickramasinghe; Carol Selva Rajah (1 February 2005). Food of India. Murdoch Books. pp. 260–. ISBN 978-1-74045-472-8. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
12. http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/in-search-of-bandar-laddu/article4605852.ece
13. Barry A. Law (31 July 1997). Microbiology and Biochemistry of Cheese and Fermented Milk. Springer. pp. 128–. ISBN 978-0-7514-0346-6. Retrieved 16 June 2012.

External links

• Media related to Sweet food of India at Wikimedia Commons