The Edible Archives: 21 Forgotten Indian Sweets That Whisper Tales of Tradition

The Edible Archives: 21 Forgotten Indian Mithais That Whisper Tales of Tradition

India is a land of flavors, where sweets are more than dessert—they are history, ritual, and memory served on a plate. With more than a thousand documented regional sweets (Achaya, Indian Food: A Historical Companion), each mithai tells a story: of seasonal harvests, royal feasts, temple offerings, or familial love. Yet, with industrialization, urbanization, and the homogenization of sweet shops, many of these culinary treasures are vanishing, preserved only in oral history, family cookbooks, or temple kitchens.

This article is an ode to 21 forgotten Indian desserts—rare, seasonal, or artisanal mithai that carry centuries of heritage, and a call to revive them before they fade from memory.

I. The Seasonal & Sacred: Mithai Tied to the Calendar

These sweets embody the concept of terroir—their existence intrinsically linked to a specific season or ritual, making them a fleeting, annual luxury.

1. Nolen Gur’er Payesh (Bengal)

This is a quintessential Bengali winter delight. Gobindobhog rice is lovingly simmered in milk, but its distinction comes from being sweetened exclusively with Nolen Gur (date-palm jaggery). Nolen Gur, the liquid jaggery of the date palm harvested only between December and February. Its intense, smoky caramel aroma is a beacon of Bengali winter and Durga Puja nostalgia. However, authentic nolen gur is tapped only for a few fleeting weeks each year, confining this true Payesh to a brief, annual window.

Origin & Story: A Bengali winter classic, this rice pudding is sweetened exclusively with Nolen Gur, the liquid jaggery of the date palm harvested in December–February. Folklore recounts that the first pot of Payesh is always offered to Goddess Lakshmi, symbolizing prosperity and sweetness of life.
Preparation History: Simmer Gobindobhog rice in full-fat milk for hours, then add melted nolen gur off the heat to prevent curdling. The subtle smoky aroma is the hallmark of authenticity.
Festival Association: Durga Puja, Poush Sankranti, and winter family celebrations.
Anecdote: In rural Bengal, the first spoonful is often fed to a newborn during Annaprashan, embedding the sweet in rites of passage.
Health Note: Rich in antioxidants, iron, and minerals from jaggery; a natural winter tonic.

2. Kharwas / Posu (Maharashtra & Konkan)

Origin & Story: Kharwas is a custard made from colostrum milk—the first milk after calving—believed sacred and a symbol of fertility. Historically, it was a household ritual after a cow or buffalo calved, served to family and neighbors. Unfortunately, modern dairies rarely distribute colostrum, which is why this mithai now survives mainly in villages with private dairy farms.
Preparation History: Steamed with cardamom, saffron, and jaggery. Achieving the perfect custard-like texture demands precise temperature control.
Festival Association: Celebrations tied to livestock and agrarian rituals.
Anecdote: Village elders recall festivals where Kharwas was served on banana leaves as a “mini-harvest festival” after the monsoon calving season.
Health Note: Naturally rich in antibodies; consumed as an immunity booster.

3. Adadiya Pak (Gujarat)

Origin & Story: A winter sweet, Adadiya Pak is made from roasted urad dal flour, ghee, jaggery, and warming spices like long pepper and ginger. Legends say it was created in Gujarati households as a restorative post-harvest dish.

Preparation History: Coarse urad dal flour is roasted in copious amounts of ghee until aromatic, then combined with jaggery, nuts, edible gum (gond) and intensely warming spices like ginger and pipali (long pepper). Precision in roasting defines its texture. Though rich and restorative, it’s a labor-intensive preparation often overlooked in favor of easier, trendier barfis.
Festival Association: Makar Sankranti, winter family feasts.
Anecdote: Families recount how elders believed a spoonful could “keep the cold away” during harsh Gujarati winters.
Health Note: High-protein and energy-dense; traditionally consumed in small doses as a warming tonic.

4. Malai Ghevar (Rajasthan)

Origin & Story: Ghevar, a honeycomb-like fried disc, becomes decadent when topped with fresh malai (clotted cream) and saffron. Originally part of royal Thar desert feasts, it exemplified the luxury of Rajasthani festival sweets. A decadent cousin of the popular ghevar, this Rajasthani specialty is pure indulgence for festivals like Teej. The classic porous disc is not just dipped in sugar syrup, but is thickly coated and soaked in fresh malai (clotted cream) and saffron. This richness is its downfall; the inclusion of fresh cream gives it a short shelf-life, making it unsuitable for commercial transport or storage.
Preparation History: The disc is deep-fried in ghee, immediately soaked with malai to retain its soft, spongy texture.
Festival Association: Teej, Raksha Bandhan, and weddings.
Anecdote: In Jaipur, families recall how Malai Ghevar was specially commissioned for royal visits and later adopted by local elite households.
Health Note: Rich and calorie-dense; meant for indulgent seasonal consumption.

5. Sarson ka Halwa (Punjab)

Origin & Story: This unique, warming halwa from Punjab offers a literal taste of the harvest. A halwa made from mustard greens or flowers, cooked with jaggery and ghee. It marks the harvest of mustard and has historically been associated with fertility and agricultural prosperity. . It’s made from the seasonal mustard flowers and jaggery, creating an energy-dense sweet traditionally prepared to celebrate the Lohri harvest. Its survival is naturally limited by the short window when mustard flowers are available.
Preparation History: Mustard flowers are blanched, crushed, and slowly cooked in ghee and jaggery to create a dense, nutty halwa.
Festival Association: Lohri, winter harvest celebrations.
Anecdote: Elder Punjabi women recall preparing halwa in clay pots, singing folk songs as mustard blossoms boiled in sweet aroma.

II. The Artisanal & Architectural: Mithai of Incredible Skill

These recipes are relics of culinary perfectionism, requiring a level of skill and patience that modern kitchens rarely possess, making them true masters of their craft.

6. Pootharekulu (Atreyapuram, Andhra Pradesh)

Origin & Story: Known as the “Paper Sweet,” of Atreyapuram in Andhra Pradesh requires astonishing skill. These are impossibly thin, almost translucent sheets made from rice starch, meticulously rolled and layered with ghee and powdered sugar or jaggery. Its extreme fragility and dependence on dedicated artisan skill mean that mass-production is impossible.
Pootharekulu are delicate rice starch sheets wrapped around ghee and jaggery, sometimes studded with nuts. This art dates back over 200 years, passed through generations of Atreyapuram artisans.
Preparation History: Sheets are so thin they resemble tissue paper; folding and filling require nimble hands.
Festival Association: Weddings, gifting, and Sankranti fairs.
Anecdote: Historian KT Achaya notes Pootharekulu were often presented to visiting British officers during colonial fairs.
Health Note: Light despite being sweet; portion-controlled treats were common.

7. Adhirasam (Tamil Nadu)

Origin & Story: This heritage sweet, tracing back to Chola dynasty texts, is a chewy yet crisp disc made for Diwali prasad in Tamil Nadu.
Preparation History: It requires a highly skilled process involving fermented rice flour dough mixed with jaggery, then flattened and deep-fried. The reliance on precise fermentation makes the final product temperamental and difficult for commercial shops to maintain consistently.
Festival Association: Diwali and temple offerings.
Anecdote: Village elders in Thanjavur recall fermenting dough overnight for temple prasads; a misstep in fermentation was considered inauspicious.

8. Sitabhog (Bardhaman, West Bengal)

Origin & Story: A unique pseudo-pulao dessert from West Bengal, Sitabhog features rice-flour vermicelli mixed with tiny, syrup-soaked chhena (cottage cheese) balls. Famously a signature dish of the Bardhaman Raj family, its unique structure and hyper-local identity mean it remains confined to the Bardhaman region, rarely recognized elsewhere.
Sitabhog is rice flour vermicelli interspersed with chhena balls in sugar syrup, historically gifted by the Bardhaman Raj family to Lord Curzon in the early 1900s.
Preparation History: Requires layering of vermicelli and chhena to maintain integrity in syrup.
Festival Association: Regional fairs, Diwali, and royal celebrations.
Anecdote: Generations of Bardhaman sweet-makers guard the recipe, which is largely unknown outside the district.

9. Khaja (Odisha/Bihar)

Origin & Story: A flaky, multi-layered pastry that is fried and dipped in sugar syrup, Khaja is a legendary sweet from Odisha and Bihar. Its most sacred form is as a component of the Mahaprasad offered at the Jagannath Temple in Puri. While factory-made versions exist, they lack the delicate, melt-in-the-mouth crispness of the traditionally hand-layered artisanal Khaja.
Preparation History: Laminated dough fried in ghee; layering is essential for the flaky texture.
Festival Association: Rath Yatra, temple offerings.
Anecdote: Stories recount pilgrims receiving Khaja as sacred gifts, which were believed to carry blessings of the deity.

10. Stuffed Parwal Mithai (Bihar)

Origin & Story: A brilliant example of transforming vegetables into decadent dessert from Bihar. Pointed gourds (parwal) are boiled, deseeded, and then stuffed with a rich filling of spiced khoya and nuts, before being soaked in light syrup. The labor-intensive preparation means it’s now primarily reserved for marriages and large regional feasts.
Festival Association: Family feasts, Diwali, Chhath Puja.
Anecdote: Grandmothers recount how they’d sneak parwal sweets to children during harvest season, calling them “hidden treasures.”

III. The Niche & Novel: Culinary Experiments and Lost Delicacies

These sweets represent unique regional tastes, niche religious observances, or bygone eras of royal culinary experimentation.

11. Raskadam (Eastern India)

Origin & Story: A delightful surprise from Eastern India, Raskadam is essentially a small, soft rasgulla (spongy chhena ball) encased within a layer of denser, grated khoya (milk solids). This 'two-in-one' sweet, with its contrasting textures, is often obscured by regional naming conventions that prevent wider recognition.
Festival Association: Weddings, gifting sweets to dignitaries.
Anecdote: A favorite delicacy in Bengal’s zamindar households encased in khoya; contrasts soft and dense textures.

12. Thaen Mittai (South India)

Origin & Story: Fizzy, honey-like balls made from urad dal and rice flour, deep-fried and coated in vibrant orange sugar syrup.
Festival Association: Popular decades ago in temple fairs.
Anecdote:This South Indian sweet was a pocket-money favorite near schools and temples decades ago, but its market share has been entirely overtaken by cheaper, standardized packaged candies.

13. Garlic Kheer / Tamatar ka Halwa (Awadh/Hyderabad)

Origin & Story: These are culinary relics of the Nawabi era of Awadh and Hyderabad. Ingredients like garlic (boiled and masked) or tomatoes were transformed into sweets, showcasing the extreme experimentation of royal bawarchis. However, their highly unique and acquired taste profiles limit them to a niche appeal today.
Association: Royal-era experimentation transforming garlic or tomato into desserts. Examples of Nawabi culinary creativity, surviving as niche treats.

14. Muthia Ladoo (Rajasthan/Gujarat)

Origin & Story: These rustic, nutritious ladoos are made by steaming or roasting flour (often a mix of wheat, gram, or millet) with jaggery and ghee. As a hearty, home-specialty for harvest festivals, shops typically do not bother to commercialize this simple yet potent sweet.
Festival Association: Harvest Festival special; highly nutritious.
Health Note: High-protein and energy-dense; traditionally consumed in small doses as a warming tonic.

15. Pinni (Punjab)

Origin & Story: A powerhouse winter sweet from Punjab. These round, dense ladoos are primarily made from wheat flour, ghee, and generous amounts of dry fruits and nuts. Pinni is so deeply embedded in household winter tradition that shops often struggle to market a superior commercial version.
Health Note: High-protein and energy-dense; traditionally consumed in small doses as a warming tonic.

16. Sohan Halwa (North India)

Origin & Story: This dense, sticky, and chewy halwa is made by slow-cooking sprouted wheat, cornflour, ghee, and sugar until it reaches an amber, crystalline texture. Traditional recipes require hours of slow-cooking, a step often skipped by industrial producers, resulting in a substandard product that has displaced the authentic local recipes.
Slow-cooked halwa using sprouted wheat, ghee, sugar, cornflour; creates brittle-crystalline texture, impossible to mass-produce authentically.

IV. The Ritualistic & Undocumented: Sweets Surviving on Faith

These sweets primarily survive in temple kitchens or family recipes, often disappearing without a trace when a tradition ends.

17. Rasabali (Odisha)

Origin & Story: Originating from the Baladevjew Temple, Rasabali involves shallow-fried, flattened discs of chhena (cottage cheese) that are then lovingly soaked in thick, condensed saffron-flavored milk.
Festival Association: It survives predominantly as temple prasad offerings within Orissa, limiting its availability elsewhere. Baladevjew Temple speciality.
Health Note: Rich and calorie-dense; meant for indulgent seasonal consumption.

18. Saunf Mithai (North India)

Origin & Story: Multi-colored, sugar-coated fennel seeds (saunf), which double as both a digestive and a simple, festive sweet. Its purpose has been almost entirely replaced by cheaper, mass-produced mukhwas (mouth fresheners) blends, causing the loss of its artisanal, wedding-favor charm.
Festival Association: Traditional wedding/festival favor replaced by packaged mukhwas.
Health Note: Good for digestion

19. Lauki Kheer/Halwa (North India)

Origin & Story: A gentle, milk-based pudding where grated bottle gourd (lauki) is simmered in milk until thick. It is commonly seen as a simple sweet for vrat (fasting) days and is often considered too basic or "everyday" to be marketed as a commercial, high-end mithai.
Health Note: Naturally rich in antibodies; consumed as an immunity booster.
Anecdote: Grandmothers recount how they’d prepared Lauki sweets for vrat (fasting) days and puja which was mostly liked by children during pooja, calling them “hidden treasures” due to its health benefits.

20. Jodhpuri Mawa Kachori (Rajasthan)

Origin & Story: A unique sweet version of the famous kachori from Rajasthan. The flaky pastry is filled with rich mawa (milk solids), nuts, and cardamom, fried, and then soaked in sugar syrup. Its elaborate preparation and short shelf-life due to the creamy filling keep it rare.
Festival Association: Festival & royal table sweet.

21. Temple & Village Prasad Sweets (Pan-India)

Origin & Story: This umbrella category covers thousands of unnamed, localized recipes, often made with coarse flour, jaggery, and ghee. These are linked to specific deities, festivals, or family traditions. Crucially, because they lack written documentation, once the family matriarch or the last temple cook passes, the recipe often vanishes forever.
Thousands of undocumented local sweets, made with jaggery, ghee, coarse flour; recipes vanish if the tradition dies.

The Preservation Mission: A Culinary Call to Action

These forgotten Indian desserts are more than just recipes; they are edible archives of history. The greatest threat to their survival is not time, but indifference.
While the loss is vast, a quiet revival is happening:
Boutique Revival: Modern chefs are experimenting with classics like the Nolen Gur’er Payesh, elevating it into gourmet desserts.

The Artisanal Champion: The few families in places like Atreyapuram still making Pootharekulu are the true guardians of this heritage.
Documenting, cooking, and sharing these recipes is not just an act of nostalgia; it is an active contribution to preserving India's culinary heritage. The greatest preservation happens in the home kitchen.

A Note on Culinary Integrity: The Ghee-Oil Divide

It's essential to address the single greatest threat to the authenticity of these forgotten recipes: the shift from desi ghee to cheaper vegetable oils. Many traditional mithais were made exclusively in pure clarified butter. The subtle, nutty flavor and distinct texture (kharasta or flakiness) achieved by cooking in ghee are fundamentally lost when industrial oil is substituted in mass production, underscoring why these commercial sweets often fail to replicate the original decadence.

#
Mithai

Region / Origin

Best Place to Hunt

Festival / Cultural Association

Quick Anecdote / Story

1
Nolen Gur’er Payesh

Bengal

Kolkata (select vendors)

Poush Sankranti, Durga Puja

First spoon fed to newborns during Annaprashan

2

Kharwas / Posu

Maharashtra / Konkan

Village dairy kitchens

Post-calving celebrations

Served on banana leaves as mini-harvest festival

3

Adadiya Pak

Gujarat

Rural households during winter

Makar Sankranti

Believed to keep the cold away in winter

4

Malai Ghevar

Rajasthan

Jaipur specialty sweet shops

Teej, Raksha Bandhan, weddings

Commissioned for royal visits in Jaipur

5

Sarson ka Halwa

Punjab

Village kitchens

Lohri, winter harvest

Cooked in clay pots with folk songs sung

6

Pootharekulu

Andhra Pradesh

Atreyapuram artisans

Sankranti, weddings, gifting

Paper-thin rolls presented to visiting dignitaries

7

Adhirasam

Tamil Nadu

Thanjavur village kitchens

Diwali, temple offerings

Fermentation must be precise; misstep considered inauspicious

8

Sitabhog

West Bengal

Bardhaman sweet shops

Diwali, royal gifting

Gifted by Bardhaman Raj family to Lord Curzon

9

Khaja

Odisha / Bihar

Puri temple shops

Rath Yatra

Part of Jagannath Mahaprasad offerings

10

Stuffed Parwal Mithai

Bihar

Family kitchens

Diwali, Chhath Puja

Called “hidden treasures” by grandmothers

11

Raskadam

Eastern India

Local Bengal sweet shops

Weddings, gifting

Soft rasgulla encased in grated khoya

12

Thaen Mittai

South India

Temple fair stalls

Childhood treats / fairs

Fizzy, honey-like balls, pocket-money favorite

13

Garlic Kheer / Tamatar Halwa

Awadh / Hyderabad

Historical homes

Nawabi royal feasts

Experimental sweets from royal kitchens

14

Muthia Ladoo

Rajasthan / Gujarat

Harvest season kitchens

Local harvest festivals

Rustic ladoos with jaggery and ghee

15

Pinni

Punjab

Household kitchens

Winter staple

Dense energy-dense winter treat

16

Sohan Halwa

North India

Heritage sweet shops

Festivals

Slow-cooked for hours to achieve crystalline texture

17

Rasabali

Odisha

Baladevjew Temple, Puri

Temple prasad

Flattened chhena discs soaked in saffron milk

18

Saunf Mithai

North India

Traditional wedding favors

Weddings, festive occasions

Multi-colored sugar-coated fennel seeds

19

Lauki Kheer

North India

Family kitchens

Vrat / fasting days

Simple, milk-based bottle gourd pudding

20

Jodhpuri Mawa Kachori

Rajasthan

Jaipur, Jodhpur

Weddings, festivals

Flaky pastry filled with mawa, nuts, and syrup

21

Temple & Village Prasad Sweets

Pan-India

Local temples / family kitchens

Specific deity festivals

Thousands of undocumented recipes; vanish if tradition ends

Conclusion: Preservation Through Palate

#	Mithai	Region / Origin	Best Place to Hunt	Festival / Cultural Association	Quick Anecdote / Story
1	Nolen Gur’er Payesh	Bengal	Kolkata (select vendors)	Poush Sankranti, Durga Puja	First spoon fed to newborns during Annaprashan
2	Kharwas / Posu	Maharashtra / Konkan	Village dairy kitchens	Post-calving celebrations	Served on banana leaves as mini-harvest festival
3	Adadiya Pak	Gujarat	Rural households during winter	Makar Sankranti	Believed to keep the cold away in winter
4	Malai Ghevar	Rajasthan	Jaipur specialty sweet shops	Teej, Raksha Bandhan, weddings	Commissioned for royal visits in Jaipur
5	Sarson ka Halwa	Punjab	Village kitchens	Lohri, winter harvest	Cooked in clay pots with folk songs sung
6	Pootharekulu	Andhra Pradesh	Atreyapuram artisans	Sankranti, weddings, gifting	Paper-thin rolls presented to visiting dignitaries
7	Adhirasam	Tamil Nadu	Thanjavur village kitchens	Diwali, temple offerings	Fermentation must be precise; misstep considered inauspicious
8	Sitabhog	West Bengal	Bardhaman sweet shops	Diwali, royal gifting	Gifted by Bardhaman Raj family to Lord Curzon
9	Khaja	Odisha / Bihar	Puri temple shops	Rath Yatra	Part of Jagannath Mahaprasad offerings
10	Stuffed Parwal Mithai	Bihar	Family kitchens	Diwali, Chhath Puja	Called “hidden treasures” by grandmothers
11	Raskadam	Eastern India	Local Bengal sweet shops	Weddings, gifting	Soft rasgulla encased in grated khoya
12	Thaen Mittai	South India	Temple fair stalls	Childhood treats / fairs	Fizzy, honey-like balls, pocket-money favorite
13	Garlic Kheer / Tamatar Halwa	Awadh / Hyderabad	Historical homes	Nawabi royal feasts	Experimental sweets from royal kitchens
14	Muthia Ladoo	Rajasthan / Gujarat	Harvest season kitchens	Local harvest festivals	Rustic ladoos with jaggery and ghee
15	Pinni	Punjab	Household kitchens	Winter staple	Dense energy-dense winter treat
16	Sohan Halwa	North India	Heritage sweet shops	Festivals	Slow-cooked for hours to achieve crystalline texture
17	Rasabali	Odisha	Baladevjew Temple, Puri	Temple prasad	Flattened chhena discs soaked in saffron milk
18	Saunf Mithai	North India	Traditional wedding favors	Weddings, festive occasions	Multi-colored sugar-coated fennel seeds
19	Lauki Kheer	North India	Family kitchens	Vrat / fasting days	Simple, milk-based bottle gourd pudding
20	Jodhpuri Mawa Kachori	Rajasthan	Jaipur, Jodhpur	Weddings, festivals	Flaky pastry filled with mawa, nuts, and syrup
21	Temple & Village Prasad Sweets	Pan-India	Local temples / family kitchens	Specific deity festivals	Thousands of undocumented recipes; vanish if tradition ends

These forgotten Indian desserts are more than just recipes; they are edible archives of regional history, anthropological markers of festival cycles, and testaments to lost culinary skills. The disappearance of these sweets from commercial sweet shops signals a critical loss to our cultural diversity. Documenting, cooking, and sharing these recipes is not just an act of nostalgia; it is an active contribution to preserving India's culinary heritage. The next time you visit a regional fair or a small village, look beyond the counter—you might just find a piece of history waiting to be savored.

Why These Sweets Disappeared

Industrialization replacing ghee with oils
Urban lifestyles reducing festival cooking
Shelf-life limitations
Loss of artisanal skill

Revival & Preservation

Boutique Revival: Chefs reinterpret classics like Nolen Gur’er Payesh.
Artisan Champions: Families in Atreyapuram, Bardhaman, Puri still preserve originals.
Culinary Heritage: Cooking and sharing these recipes is an act of cultural preservation.

References

Achaya, K.T., Indian Food: A Historical Companion, Oxford University Press, 1994.
Sen, Colleen Taylor, Food Culture in India, Greenwood Press, 2004.
Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Documentation of Regional Sweets, 2019.
Balasubramanian, S., Traditional Indian Sweets: A Culinary Journey, 2016.
Oral interviews with family chefs and temple cooks (Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh).