ITP Indian Travel Places: Food, Travel, Tourism Business Events and Trade Shows
Restaurant Name: Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick Sweets, Bhawanipur, Kolkata
Phone: +913324869490, +913324540281, +919830229423
Address: 2A, Paddapukur Road, Bhawanipur, Kolkata 700064 West Bengal India
Time: 07:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 100
Cuisines: Desserts, Mishti, Fast Food, Street Food
Facilities: Home Delivery, Vegetarian Only, Desserts and Bakes, Indoor Seating
Living in a world with ubiquitous travel bans and a limp tourism industry, the traveller in me discovers more rays of hope than ever in the local flavors and fervor that surround us. The inimitable mishti shops of Bengal are no less than the ninth wonder of the world.
Not only is it a proud indigenous industry of Bengal which has seen organic human skill-based growth over generations, it is also rare how a movement in its silence can sustain an ecosystem, keeping alive daily milk producing cattle, supporting innumerable farmer-producers to generating livelihoods for milk processors, finally reaching hands of mishti entrepreneurs, engaging lakhs of skilled hands to produce delicate, perishable chana (cottage cheese) based sweets of Bengal that the world craves. Undoubtedly, it gets the eminence of an essential commodity, to be allowed to keep mishti shops open between 10am to 5pm even under lockdown rules.
This week we order from the maverick mishti establishment, Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick, as they prepare for Jamai Shosthi with bold strides forward to merge heritage celebrations with modern technology and tastes.
Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick Sweets: Food
It is the surprise in the unending list of new-borns that adds to the adventure, at any of their 10 prominent outlets. The best way to savour the delectable variety is to enjoy them at their flagship shop in Bhowanipore with spiffy new interiors. The trick is to start with the seasonal fruit flavours moving on to inspirational fusion influences and cherry-picked ingredients, while keeping the nuances of Bengali bibliographical sentiments strongly rooted.
Jamai Shosthi is just another clever occasion in the Bengali matriarch’s household dedicated to win over the son-in-law through his stomach. Celebrated at the peak of summer with the first taste of seasonal offerings, it embraces novelty and competition in all forms of food. We order a fascinating range comprising daab sandesh (₹25/piece), mango gelato (₹700/kg), mango soufflé (₹35/cup), kanthal sandesh (₹20/piece), lichur payesh (₹700/kg), Jamai Shosthi sandesh (₹70/piece), shorer roll (₹30/piece), blueberry doi (₹45/cup) and chocolava (₹35/cup).
Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick Sweets: Plus & Minus
The delivery is seamlessly modern, food-grade branded paper boxes, heat-sealed transparent packaging for the liquids and lightweight casing to create a near-reality impression. Let’s begin with the traditional, the gigantic roundel, freshness of the soft nolen gur chana sandesh with a Jamai Shosthi stamp is a jumpstart indeed. The pristine white layers of transparent milk cream or shor, set after tedious processing is rolled around an unadulterated cloud of chana and makes a wonder called shorer roll. The daab sandesh is a melt-in-the-mouth version of fresh, pure chana set with a translucent sheath of soothing green coconut water, subtle in flavor and sweetness, served chilled with a rose petal. Next comes the onslaught of summer fruits in the true essence of Jamai Shosthi – kanthal sandesh (pulp of jackfruit smoothly blended with the chana to give perfect shape to flavoursome summer delights), lichur payesh (an ancient revivalist recipe of luscious lychees, seeds replaced with spongy cottage cheese balls dipped in milky syrup to produce fantastic results of liquid dessert heaven). The king of the season, mangoes arrive in refrigerated fashionable fusions, the soufflé is a mango pulp infused cream topping to a soft base of sandesh served in a chic mango-shaped cup; while the gelato is a smooth blend of mango pulp and textured chana bejeweled with real golden pieces of mango. The blueberry doi is a marvelous innovation of velvety curd sweetened with blueberry compote, an excellent combination and the chocolava is an original molten chocolate brownie – both scooped out of traditional terracotta pots.
