Baal Mithai

Apart from beautiful Joshis, Pants, Upadhyays, Sahs and Nautiyals, the hills of Uttrakhand(which was Uttaranchal till 3 days back) have also produced an outrageously delicious sweet delicacy called Baal Mithai.

Unfortunately, most non-pahadis outside the precinct of Almora and thereabouts are oblivious about it, but not me. This is because one of my closest buddies is an Upadhyay himself. Till I was a resident of Lucknow, I have enjoyed this heavenly sweet after every summer break when Uppadhyas would pack their bags to the cool climes of Pithauragarh, and on the way back will bring this manna for waiting us. God bless them.

The perplexing part is that there are no pretenders to the throne in other cities - the copycats - who will make the Bikaneri Shevs in Calcutta, and calls it Haldiram Nagpurwale, or that junkie in Pune who makes a mess of potatoes, and calls it Lucknow Ki Chat. But probably that is a blessing in disguise because then authenticity remains and consumer is not left with bad taste in mouth - literally.

About ingredients. Its brownish in colour, cuboidal in shape, laced with abundant servings of sugar cloaked Khas Khas seeds on the six surfaces.The sweet it self is made up of roasted Khoya, but believe me folks - this brown Khoya stuff is different from famous brown Brijwasi's(Mathura)Peda, or brown Benarasi Kalakand. It's just different.

Hardish just it may seem, it not just dissolves - it evaporates in the mouth. The sugar coated Khas seeds gives another twist to the taste - the crunchy effect while chewing. The khas-sugar combination also helps in keeping mouth wet while devouring this relatively dry sweet.

I hope I have developed enough interest and awareness about this yummy. If you plan to travel to Uttarakhand, or have a pahadi friend who might have come back from home recently - go fetch it. I am sure s/he may have a handful of same perched safely around some corner. At first sight it may look like fungal growth, but its not. Khas khas is herb and has medicinal properties, which insures long shelf life of this sweet.