Sweet Tooth O’ Mine

 Sweets are an integral part of our lives. Whenever a function is arranged, the first thing people would search for is scrumptious traditional sweet offerings. Be it ladoo, jalebi, gulab jamun or our own unniyappam, sweets are the sign of any happy occasion. The streets of Kochi are rich with authentic sweets, especially the famus Sri Krishna Sweets. With Mysore pak and Palkova, the street shop has found a place in the hearts of all the city folks. Mahima Anna Jacob & Arunima Shaji list out some of the other popular finger-licking delicacies in our city that serves very traditional but at times modern sweets.

Sugar-free delicacies
“To me, the words sweet and sugar meant the same,” says Javed Khadir, owner of Zeugar. However, it changed when Javed became diabetic at the age of 29. The sweet-lover couldn’t escape his cravings so his wife tried to perfect sugar-free sweets that would not leave an after-taste. “After 4-5 years of experiments and research, she came up with a few cakes and chocolates and shared them with our friends,” says Javed. That is when the idea struck the couple to start a business for people like Javed. “Our motto is ‘low calories, healthier sweet without compromising taste,” he says. They hired a chef who specialises in confectionaries and desserts. Before introducing any sweets to the shop, there are many taste checks. Instead of sugar they use three natural and approved substitutes namely maltitol, stevia and sucralose. They have now extended their business to Chennai and Bengaluru. Javed says they have three types of customers — diabetic patients, people who fear being diabetic and the fitness conscious. “We won’t compromise on the quality of the food and only promote single serving or healthy intake. All our sweets have components such as ghee and oil, which can cause cholesterol.”

Come here for the Kala Jamun
When you walk past the Shantilal S Mithaiwala at Gujarati Street in Mattancherry, the aroma will stop you on your way. The shop was is a gift to Kochiites — it introduced the famous Bengali delicacy Kala Jamun. Unlike Gulab Jamun, this delicacy is slowly cooked until it has a darker brown-black shade. It is thicker and has a crispness. Started by Shantilal Sakerchand in 1953, this is one of the busiest sweet shops in the city. He migrated from Gujarat in search of a job and started selling vegetables and fruits in Kochi. Later, he started a chai and snack shop, which later became a sweet shop — one of the best in the city. The current owner, Ronak K Shah took over the shop when his father Narendra S Shah planned to shut down the shop. “I took in labourers from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. This helped in making delicacies with authentic north Indian texture,” he says. 

Home for halwa
The word ‘halwa’ comes from the Arabic word ‘Hulw’, which means sweet. As per legends, the method of cooking Halwa has its roots in the Ottoman Empire. Halwa is an integral part of the food traditions of Kerala. Now, a huge variety of halwa is available here — flavours like grape, watermelon to jackfruit are a hit. Started in 1986 by the late SU Abdul Razak, Cochin Halwa Centre in the city specialises in delicacy. “I have been running the shop with my brother for the past 12 years,” says Sheikh Abdul Razak Arshad. “From the beginning onwards we focused on halwas. Now we have 100 varieties, seasonal fruit halwa and customised flavours. His brother Arshad joined the business after completing 12th grade. “I used to do basic work such as cleaning and peeling bananas for five years before joining officially,” he says. The brothers say, their father introduced many varieties after intensive travelling. The black halwa is the best-selling item in the shop. Though there are many varieties of sweets available in the market, their fresh and hot halwas are always a hit.

The soul of Kolkata
Bikash Babu Sweets & Chaats, since its inception in 2016, has been giving an authentic taste of north India to the Malayali crowd. Bengali-native Amit Sarkar, an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, wanted to make up for what Kerala lacked — North-Indian sweets, where the taste of home is not lost. “We have sweets from five different states, including West Bengal, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Around 60 percent of our customers are from south India,” says Amit, who shifted to Kerala when he was five. His father Bikash Babu worked in the construction industry and stayed back after falling in love with the place. “Unlike other sweet shops which give fancy names to its store, I stuck to my father’s name. It’s classic and it resonates with the traditional and authentic image of our little venture,” adds Amit. Now, the shop has about 187 sweets in various categories. Bikash Babu also serves some South Indian delicacies too. “The Soan Papdi made according to the Malayali taste palate is one of the best sellers. The item is made with Keralite’s favourite coconut, cotton candy, and honey,” says Amit.The shop is careful in sourcing ingredients. All are from each delicacy’s place of origin. For Moti Choor Laddu, the flour (besan) is sourced from Gujarat. Being a Bengali, Amit has introduced the flavours of Kolkata too in the form of Abar Khabo (I shall eat again), Malai Cham Cham, Kesar Cham Cham and many more. “Bengali sweets are all about handcrafting. Paneer Jalebi is also an appreciated sweet among Keralites. Freshly made paneer, evaporated milk, fresh milk and sugar are its main content,” says Amit.

Traditional with some quirks
Gulab Jamun and ice cream is a familiar combination. Similarly, Revathy Prajith from Kozhikode has made a new one — Unimadhuram. It is a combination of Unniyappam and Palada Payasam. Her experiments continued. She also serves the famous Aval Isthiri. In the famous Kannur breakfast, aval is fried in ghee and added to milk, sugar and banana. The result is a healthy and delicious sweet offering that resembles porridge. Her Kalppathy Snack House serves a wide variety of Kerala sweets such as Uniyappam, Neyyappam, Ela Ada and kumbilappam. “My mother used to make Unniyappam as a business at home. The same recipe is used to make Unniyappam here,” says Revathy. She started the business after the failure of her hotel business during the peak Covid period. “The traditional sweets made me financially stable,” she adds. Many people come here from far away places in search of traditional sweets. The Unimadhuram has a special taste as she uses coconut oil for the preparation. Aval Isthiri can be eaten as breakfast. At first, the dish was available on the weekend. However, due to demand, now it’s available every day. The cost is also affordable. They also have traditional- western fusion like halwa ice cream. 

A heaven of ladoo
Ladoos from Swamy’s shop are smooth and luscious. The sweetness dominated our tongue. Soon after finishing, we longed to have another one. Ladoos from Swamy Sweets and Snacks in Palathingal Shopping Complex in Tripunithura are among the bestsellers in Kochi. The shop also experiments with flavours. Pista ladoo, multi-colored ladoo, motichoor ladoo, besan ladoo etc are famous among city folks. Swami Venugopal started the shop inspired by his elder brothers who owned ice cream and sweet shops in Tripunithura. He started the shop as an ice cream parlour 25 years back. After 10 years, he introduced sweets to the shop. He also makes sure to keep the space neat and tidy. The dough and mixture are made under his supervision. Most people come in the morning for sweets. “I am making the same quantity of ladoo even now. They are always in demand,” says Venugopal. His elder son, Gokul, is now accompanying him in the shop. The open kitchen is the highlight of the shop. “I’m here to reduce my father’s workload,” says Gokul.