Fill Your Hearts with Eastern Sweetness
The taste buds of a child are determined inside the womb. Babies dictate the cravings their mothers get. It can be anything and not just a craving for sour or spicy stuff like pickles or curd or any of those things. It can be anything - vegetarian people have been found to have a craving for meat; mutton haters began consuming mutton; one of my colleagues got high on fish and fried veggies. And another complained of getting addicted to lime juice, mojitos and other such cool, soft drinks. Pregnancy can make your taste buds go haywire. Babies are such a hassle, no?
Me and my siblings had different craving, like remarkably different. I made my mother consume tonnes of sweets while my sister made her climb up the chair and take out a huge pickle bottle when she first announced her arrival. Contrary to both of us, my brother made her sleep all the time. That's why when my dad would ask me to cut down on sweets, I'd attribute it to his genes since he loves sweets himself and on mom's cravings when I was in her tummy. Sweets have contributed to my weight gain always. Its a weakness of mine. The only thing I don't like sweet is coffee and tea. Else, I am always for dessert and other such stuff.
Eastern India is home of a variety of sweets. While Odiyas drool on chhena poda, Bangalis swear by Sandesh. And both of them have their hands on Rasgulla. Regardless of where it originated, I am just glad that we have something of the sort in such varieties - dark brown, white, cream coloured and much more. Odisha boasts of different varieties of Rasgulla, My favourite is the one in Pahala since I live close by. Whether you are a tourist, a native, an Odia or a Bengali, I'd strongly recommend getting a slice of Rasgullas in Odisha too.
I attended my school friend's wedding in Kolkata last year. It was a quintessential Bengali wedding with a plethora of fish dishes, rice, mutton and of course, sweets. Contrary to popular belief, Bengalis don't go all gaga over their Roshogulla all the time! They have other types on their plates too. And those can easily defeat Roshogulla any time.
When my friend's mother handed a plate full of these sweets to me, I couldn't understand how to put it all in my tummy which was already bursting with excitement. Made purely of milk, the sweets dissolved in my mouth and filled me with happiness, the kind you get when you consume something you had never before. That kind of mishti is not available anywhere in India, but Kolkata.
Born and brought up in Bengal, my dad retains some of his sweet Bengali cravings. I remember how he used to make gulab jamun at home, years ago. We used to have it during Diwali, New Years or even without any occasion. He loved it. In spite of his health scare, he still asks for sweets when he sees some in the house, but his advice to me always is to avoid sweets. I can't, I have inherited his taste buds.
In January this year, I went to Satkosia for picnicking with my office colleagues. Our return journey led us to Nayagarh, the origin place of chhena poda. The shops there served this delectable cottage cheese to all of us and then shut his shop. His business for the day was done. You go to Puri and see visitors clamouring for chhena poda. My mother always asks me to get chhena poda for her. It is less dangerous than most sweets and does not pose any risk of diabetes.
You really don't need to go anywhere else looking for dessert. The money that we pay to taste all those imported sweets are nothing compared to what is home-bred. No dark chocolate can replace the taste and sanctity of chhena poda ever. Too bad, we always crave for a better taste of things comparatively inferior than the uniqueness and authenticity our own home provides us with.
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