Mughal Sweets and Desserts

The mithai, the sweet tradition of the South Asian kitchen, holds a central place in the food culture of the Mughal court, and many of the most distinctive confections of the region — the gulab jamun, the jalebi, the halwa, the kulfi, the falooda, the sheer khurma, the rasgulla, the barfi, the pedha, the laddoo, the kaju katli, the soan papdi, the kalakand, the mysore pak, the rabri, and the sandesh — were either developed, refined, or popularised in the imperial kitchen and in the regional courts of the Mughal Empire. The halwai khana, the confectionery section of the imperial bawarchi khana, was a substantial institution in its own right, with its own hierarchy of halwais (confectioners), its own supply of sugar, ghee, milk, dry fruits, and aromatics, and its own elaborate techniques of preparation, ornament, and presentation. The history of the Mughal sweet tradition, the principal confections, the Persian and Indian synthesis that produced the Mughlai mithai, the regional variations of Bengal, Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Delhi, the role of sweets in festivals and weddings, and the lasting influence of the Mughal sweet tradition on the modern South Asian mithai industry are treated in detail below.

The Halwai Khana: The Imperial Confectionery

The Mughal court maintained an elaborate halwai khana, the confectionery section of the imperial bawarchi khana, and the sweets of the imperial kitchen were among the most refined of the early modern world. The halwai khana was staffed by master halwais (confectioners), sugar boilers, milk reducers, varak (gold and silver leaf) beaters, kaju katli makers, barfi makers, laddoo makers, and a substantial body of assistants. The halwai khana was supplied by the imperial mandis (markets), the imperial farms, and the karkhanas of the imperial household, and it produced a wide range of confections for the imperial table, the festival calendar, the gifts of the emperor to the nobles and the religious establishments, the langar (public kitchen) of the imperial household, and the personal use of the imperial family.

The Mughal court also patronised private halwais, many of whom established substantial businesses in the principal cities of the empire. The halwais of Delhi, Agra, Lahore, Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Dhaka were renowned for the refinement of their confections, and the halwai shops of the bazaars of these cities were major commercial enterprises. The Mughal halwais developed a number of distinctive techniques: the varak (gold and silver leaf) work that ornamented the kaju katli, the barfi, and the petha; the gota (gold and silver lace) work that adorned the mithai of the imperial table; the elaborate floral and geometric ornamentation of the halwa; the kewra and rose water flavouring of the gulab jamun, the kulfi, and the barfi; and the use of saffron, cardamom, and the garam masala complex of the imperial kitchen.

The Signature Sweets of the Mughal Kitchen

Sheer Khurma: The Festive Vermicelli Pudding

The sheer khurma (“milk and dates” in Persian) is sweets of the Mughal kitchen, and it is the signature sweet of the Eid al-Fitr festival that marks the end of the month of Ramadan. The sheer khurma is a vermicelli pudding prepared with milk, dates, fine sevaiyan (vermicelli), sugar or misri (rock sugar), ghee, dry fruits (almonds, pistachios, cashews, raisins), saffron, cardamom, and sometimes kewra water. The dish is a Persian-Indian synthesis, drawing on the Persian tradition of sheer (milk) puddings and the Indian tradition of sevaiyan (vermicelli) cookery, and it has been prepared in the imperial kitchen and in Muslim households across South Asia for centuries. The sheer khurma of the imperial kitchen was a particularly elaborate preparation, with a substantial proportion of milk, dry fruits, and aromatics, and it was served at the formal Eid assemblies of the court.

Jalebi: The Pretzel-Shaped Sweet

The jalebi (also zulbia or jilebi) is one of the most popular sweets of the South Asian kitchen, and it is also one of the most ancient. The jalebi is a deep-fried pretzel-shaped sweet made by piping fermented batter of maida (refined wheat flour) and yoghurt into hot ghee or oil in elaborate circular and pretzel shapes, and then soaking the fried swirls in sugar syrup flavoured with saffron, cardamom, and kewra or rose water. The dish has a long history in the Persian and Arabic culinary traditions — the zalabiya of the medieval Arab kitchen is widely regarded as the ancestor of the South Asian jalebi — and the jalebi was popularised in India under the Mughals, although the dish itself has deeper South Asian roots in the kundalika and the kuzhalpani of the earlier Indian tradition. The jalebi is served at festivals, weddings, and religious celebrations, and it is a particular favourite during the Hindu festival of Diwali and the Muslim Eid festival.

Halwa: The Ghee-Rich Confection

The halwa is a general term for a wide range of dense, sweet, ghee-rich confections of the South Asian kitchen. The halwa of the Mughal kitchen was prepared in many forms: the sooji halwa (semolina halwa), the moong dal halwa (lentil halwa), the besan halwa (gram flour halwa), the gajar halwa (carrot halwa), the doodhi halwa (bottle gourd halwa), the mohanthal (a besan halwa of Gujarat), the kashi halwa (a kashi-style halwa of Varanasi), the badam halwa (almond halwa), the pista halwa (pistachio halwa), the kaju halwa (cashew halwa), the khoa halwa (a khoa-based halwa of Rajasthan), and many others. The halwa of the Mughal kitchen was typically enriched with ghee, dry fruits, and aromatics, and it was served at the muharram of the Shia mourning, the milad of the Sufi tradition, the langar of the religious establishments, and the formal occasions of the imperial household.

Kulfi and Falooda: The Frozen Sweets

The kulfi is the traditional Indian ice cream, a dense, frozen confection of reduced milk, sugar, and flavourings (cardamom, saffron, pista, badam, mango, kewra), frozen in conical metal moulds placed in a mixture of ice and salt. The kulfi is a Mughal-era innovation, drawing on the Persian tradition of bastani (the Persian ice cream of the Safavid period) and the Indian technique of freezing with salt and ice. The kulfi of the imperial kitchen was prepared with the finest ingredients — the milk of the imperial farms, the kewra water of the imperial perfumers, the pista and badam of the imperial provisioning — and it was served at the summer festivals of the court and as a refreshment of the imperial household. The falooda is a related drink, a rose- and kewra-flavoured cold drink with sevaiyan (vermicelli), tukmaria (basil seeds), and kulfi or malai (cream), and it is a popular summer refreshment of the wider South Asian mithai tradition.

Gulab Jamun: The Rose Berry

The gulab jamun (literally “rose berry” or “rose plum”) is sweets of the Mughal kitchen, and it is widely regarded as one of the signature dishes of the imperial confectionery. The gulab jamun consists of deep-fried balls of khoya (reduced milk) and maida (refined wheat flour), sometimes mixed with paneer or semolina, soaked in a sugar syrup flavoured with rose water, cardamom, and kewra. The gulab jamun of the imperial kitchen was prepared in the halwai khana, the khoya being reduced over many hours in the bawarchi khana, the balls being fried in pure ghee, and the sugar syrup being flavoured with the finest rose water and kewra. The gulab jamun is served at weddings, festivals, and religious celebrations, and it is a particular favourite of the Diwali festival and of the formal banquet of the South Asian Muslim tradition.

Rasgulla and the Bengali Sweet Tradition

The rasgulla is a Bengali sweet consisting of balls of chhena (fresh curd cheese) cooked in a sugar syrup, sometimes flavoured with kewra or rose water. The rasgulla is widely attributed to the confectioner Nabin Chandra Das of Kolkata, who is said to have invented the modern form of the sweet in 1868, although the tradition of chhena-based sweets is much older in Bengal. The rasgulla of Bengal is the most famous of the chhena sweets of the regional tradition, and it is joined by the sandesh (a chhena-based sweet of Bengal), the rasmalai (a chhena-based sweet in sweetened milk), the chamcham (an oval chhena sweet in syrup), the pantua (a deep-fried chhena sweet), the langcha (a cylindrical chhena sweet of the Shaktipeeth tradition), and the chhena poda (a baked chhena sweet of Odisha). The Bengali mithai tradition is of the regional South Asian sweet traditions, and it is closely tied to the wider Mughal inheritance.

Lassi and the Cold Drinks of the Mughal Kitchen

The lassi is the traditional yoghurt drink of the Punjab, prepared by churning yoghurt with water, sugar or salt, and sometimes flavourings (mango, rose, kewra, cardamom, saunf). The lassi of the Mughal kitchen was prepared in many forms: the sweet lassi, the salt lassi, the mango lassi, the rose lassi, the bhang lassi (prepared with bhang for the Holi festival), and the kesari lassi (flavoured with saffron). The lassi of the Punjab, particularly of the dhaaba tradition, is regional drinks of South Asia, and it is closely associated with the wider Mughal cuisine of the imperial period.

The Persian and Indian Synthesis

The Mughlai mithai tradition is, like the wider Mughal cuisine, a Persian-Indian synthesis. From the Persian kitchen, the Mughals inherited the sheer (milk) puddings, the ash (soups), the halwa (the Persian halva of the medieval Arab tradition, a dense, sweet confection), the shirini (Persian sweets more generally), the bastani (Persian ice cream), the kulfi tradition, the faloodeh (the Persian ancestor of the falooda), the gulab (rose water flavouring), the kewra and saffron aromatics, and the elaborate ornamentation with gold and silver leaf. From the Indian kitchen, the Mughals inherited the khoa (reduced milk) tradition of the Gangetic plain, the chhena (curd cheese) tradition of Bengal, the sevaiyan (vermicelli) tradition of the North, the petha tradition of Agra, the gajak tradition of the Punjab, the barfi tradition of the Punjab and Awadh, the laddoo tradition of Rajasthan and the Deccan, the mysore pak tradition of the South, the elaborate mithai tradition of the Hindu and Jain festivals, and the use of indigenous Indian aromatics (cardamom, saffron, nutmeg, jaiphal and javitri, kewra).

The encounter among these traditions in the Mughal kitchen produced a recognisably new mithai tradition by the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Persian halwa acquired Indian ghee and dry-fruit ornamentation. The Indian khoa sweets acquired Persian kewra and rose water. The Bengali chhena sweets acquired Persian syrup and kewra flavouring. The Central Asian frozen milk sweets acquired Indian kewra and saffron. By the reign of Shah Jahan, and even more by the late seventeenth-century flowering of the Mughlai confectionery under Aurangzeb and his successors, this synthesis had produced a recognisable court sweet tradition that was documented in detail in the Ain-i-Akbari and in the manuals of cookery that circulated in the imperial household.

Regional Variations of the Mughal Sweet Tradition

The Mughal sweet tradition, like the wider Mughal cuisine, spread from the imperial capital to the four corners of the empire through the households of the mansabdari nobility, the migrations of court cooks, and the establishment of regional courts. The most distinctive regional sweet traditions include:

The Lucknowi mithai of Awadh, distinguished by the galouti and kakori style of confectionery, the malai and rabdi tradition, the kulfi and falooda tradition, the kalakand and barfi tradition, the petha and mishri mawa of the regional kitchen, and the elegant ornamentation of the Nawabi table.
The Hyderabadi mithai of the Nizams, distinguished by the double-ka-meetha (a bread-based sweet), the qubani-ka-meetha (an apricot-based sweet), the kalakand and barfi tradition, the lauki-ka-halwa (bottle gourd halwa), the kaddu-ka-kheer (pumpkin kheer), and the elaborate mithai of the Nizami court.
The Bengali mithai of the Nawabs of Murshidabad and the wider Bengali Muslim community, distinguished by the rasgulla, the sandesh, the rasmalai, the chamcham, the pantua, the langcha, the chhena poda, the naru (coconut sweet), the narikel naru tradition, the mihidana of the Shaktipeeth tradition, and the elaborate sweetmeats of the Bengali Muslim wedding.
The Delhi mithai of the imperial capital, distinguished by the gulab jamun tradition of Chandni Chowk, the kaju katli of the halwais of Chandni Chowk and Karol Bagh, the petha of Agra, the soan papdi of the regional tradition, the besan laddu of the imperial kitchen, and the elaborate mithai of the Mughal-period bazaars.

The Role of Sweets in Festivals and Weddings

Sweets hold a central place in the festivals and weddings of South Asia, and many of the most distinctive festival traditions are deeply tied to the Mughal sweet inheritance. The Eid al-Fitr is marked by the sheer khurma, the seviyan, the gulab jamun, the jalebi, and the distribution of sweets to neighbours, to the poor, and to the imam of the local mosque. The Eid al-Adha is marked by the distribution of mithai to the neighbours and the langar of the religious establishments. The Milad-un-Nabi is marked by the preparation of halwa, the khichda, and the kheer of the Sufi tradition. The Muharram of the Shia mourning is marked by the kheer and the halwa of the majlis, the tabarruk (food distribution) of the imambara, and the kumbh of the Shia establishment.

In the Hindu, Jain, and Sikh traditions, sweets play an equally central role. The Diwali festival is marked by the kaju katli, the barfi, the laddoo, the gulab jamun, and the petha of the regional tradition. The Holi festival is marked by the gujiya, the malpua, the thandai, the bhang lassi, and the kulfi of the regional tradition. The Raksha Bandhan festival is marked by the mithai of the bhai-bhen relationship. The Karva Chauth festival is marked by the mithai and the kheer of the fasting wife. The Janmashtami festival is marked by the makhan mishri and the pedha of the Krishna tradition. The Sikh festival of Vaisakhi and Gurpurab is marked by the kadha prashad (the halwa of the Gurudwara langar) and the mithai of the Gurudwara distribution.

The role of sweets in South Asian weddings is particularly elaborate. The mangni (betrothal) is marked by the exchange of mithai. The tilak (engagement) is marked by the distribution of laddoo and barfi to the family and the neighbourhood. The sagai (engagement) is marked by the mithai of the family exchange. The mehndi (henna) is marked by the mithai of the women’s gathering. The baraat (procession) is marked by the distribution of gulab jamun and jalebi to the procession. The nikah (marriage) is marked by the mithai of the religious establishment. The walima (wedding banquet) is marked by the elaborate mithai of the wedding feast. The muh dikhai (the showing of the face) is marked by the distribution of mithai to the family. The chauthi (the fourth-day ceremony) is marked by the kheer and the halwa of the family gathering.

The Modern Mithai Industry and the Mughal Legacy

The Mughal sweet tradition remains central to the modern mithai industry of South Asia, and many of the most successful commercial sweet businesses of the region — the Halwai shops of Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Kolkata, the Bikanervala and Haldiram chains of the North Indian mithai industry, the Saravana Bhavan and Gangurams of the South Indian tradition, the Crescent and the Karachi Bakery of the Hyderabadi tradition, and many others — are direct descendants of the imperial halwai khana tradition. The Mughal mithai repertoire, including the gulab jamun, the jalebi, the halwa, the kulfi, the falooda, the sheer khurma, the rasgulla, the barfi, the laddoo, the kaju katli, the soan papdi, the kalakand, the rabri, and the sandesh, is the foundation of the modern commercial mithai industry, and the techniques of the imperial kitchen, transmitted through the family and apprenticeship traditions of the halwai shops, remain the foundation of the modern confectionery practice of the region.

The mithai tradition of South Asia is also a major cultural export of the subcontinent. The gulab jamun is a standard dessert of the South Asian restaurants of the United Kingdom, of North America, of the Persian Gulf, of Malaysia, of Singapore, and of the wider diaspora. The jalebi is a standard sweet of the South Asian festival calendar of the diaspora. The kulfi is a standard frozen sweet of the South Asian diaspora. The rasgulla is a standard sweet of the Bengali diaspora. The barfi is a standard sweet of the North Indian diaspora. The sheer khurma is a standard Eid sweet of the South Asian Muslim diaspora. The Mughal sweet tradition, like the wider Mughal cuisine, has become a global culinary inheritance, and it remains and recognisable elements of South Asian food culture in the world.

Sources

K.T. Achaya, A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food (1998).

For the broader context of the imperial kitchen, see the Mughal cuisine page, and for the rice and meat traditions, see Biryani: a Mughal legacy. The cooking techniques of the imperial bawarchi khana, including the dum method and the use of ghee and kewra water, are examined in Mughal cuisine techniques. The festival context in which the mithai tradition is deployed is treated on the Mughal festivals and entertainment page, and the role of sweets in the imperial ceremonial is examined in the entry on Akbar, whose Ain-i-Akbari records the elaborate mithai practice of the imperial kitchen. The cultural status of the mithai tradition in the modern South Asian imagination is examined in the Mughal culture overview and the Mughal costumes and personal adornment pages.