Sweet shops in the city offer a mix of traditional and fusion sweets

Kolkata: With ‘Bhai Phonta’, also known as ‘Bhai Dooj’ being observed this Sunday, Kolkata’s sweet shops are buzzing with activity. They are offering a delightful array of traditional and innovative fusion sweets to celebrate the special bond between brothers and sisters. On Saturday, people lined up in front of many renowned sweet shops, with crowds growing even larger in the evening. Traditional favorites such as ‘rosogolla’, ‘kamala bhog’, ‘pantua’, ‘chom chom’, ‘rasmalai’ and ‘doi’ remain staples year-round, but for Bhai Phonta, many shops have introduced unique fusion items designed to entice customers. From North Kolkata’s Sen Mahashay to South Kolkata’s Balaram Mullick, each establishment boasts its own specialties.

At Girish Chandra Dey & Nakur Chandra Nandy on Ramdulal Sarkar Street, Hedua, the offerings range from Rs 20 to Rs 225, with highlights like ‘blueberry sandesh’ topped with cream cheese and ‘kulfi sandesh’ in mango, blueberry and strawberry flavors. Owner Partha Nandy stated: “With the arrival of molasses in the market after Kali Puja, we’ve introduced two new items — a jalbhara and a ‘barfi’ sandesh. While we don’t create items specifically for any occasion, we constantly experiment throughout the year. Also, the demand for traditional sweets always remains strong.” At the century-old Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick, the emphasis is on fusion sweets designed to attract younger customers. Their new offerings include baked ‘singara’, baked cheese roll, ‘sharpe’ sandwich, and vegetable chop, in addition to traditional favorites like khaja, Bhai Phonta sandesh, ‘padma nimki’ and coconut singara. The shop boasts an extensive selection of sandesh, featuring varieties such as rose cream, ‘dilkhush, parijat’, ‘amrapali’, and fruit-and-nuts sandesh.

Sen Mahashay at Shyambazar has added a personal touch to their sweets, featuring strawberry and keshar-flavored sandesh inscribed with ‘Bhai Phonta’ in Bengali. One of the directors, Sandip Sen, stated: “We offer a variety of sweets, including ‘parama’, ‘anandabhog’, Nandini, Indrani, ‘khaja’, ‘goja’, Himadri, and ‘matribhog’. However, there are no real substitutes for ‘khaja’, ‘goja’, ‘ledigini’ and ‘chitrakut’.” Prices for sweets in this shop range from Rs 25 to Rs 70. Hindustan Sweets is offering nearly 100 types of sweets and cake-pastries for Bhai Phonta. A special platter (Thali) of sweets is available in all branches of this shop for Rs 200. “For Bhai Phonta, we added 100 varieties, including ‘chanar malpoa’, ‘rasamadhuri’, jumbo ‘kaju barfi’ and jumbo laddu. Our ‘thali’ has essential assorted sweets like ‘chitrakut’, ‘khirmohan, nimki and sandesh,” said Rajdeep Paul, managing partner of the sweet chain.