Sunday, September 16, 2018

A hunt for the not-so-sweet


jigarthandato black ricehalwa; the bylanes of George Town house desserts meant for every palate one corner of Krishnan Koil street, stands a shop that sells onlyjigarthanda . Milkrim Jigarthanda is barely a few months old, but already prides itself on the texture and thickness of their drink, which has generous dollops of home-made malai and homemade ice cream spooned in.

halwa in different colours ‘majestically’ displayed behind the glass. A customer, waiting for his order of sweets to be packed, proudly informs us that Majestic Sweets has been around for at least fifty years. Clearly, it has built for itself quite a loyal following. Along with the regular suspects on display, are trays of black rice halwa (or kavuni arisi halwa ) and dum root halwa . We try out both, and it’s easy to tell why this outlet is reputed for the former. Perfectly set, with a gelatin-smooth texture, the black rice halwa wins you over with just the right hint of sweetness. So subtle is the taste, that it barely qualifies as sweet, but is delicious nevertheless.

The dum root halwa next door, however, wins over this one — which is saying a lot, since you can literally see the light strands of saffron peeking out from Majestic’s silky-smooth offering. Firdous is another of the family run businesses with multiple outlets in this area, bustling with customers at that time of evening. Their halwa has a more generous dose of ghee than most, and is topped with almond slices instead of pumpkin roots. Deliberately grainy, this dum root halwa is certainly not for the light-hearted, but is perfect if you want to treat yourself on a budget.

With inputs from Krishin Somasekhar, blogger, Madras Eats. Krishin can be contacted at madraseats@gmail.com.

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