A syrupy election in Pak land

Shriniwas Joshi

The New Year brought sweet news for residents in Pakistan. The official Twitter account of the government of Pakistan posted a poll on Twitter that asked people: "What is the National Sweet of Pakistan?" and, gulab jamun polled 47 per cent votes in its favour. Jalebi was the first runner-up with 34 per cent votes and barfi the second runner-up with 19 per cent votes. 

As usual, there were actions and reactions to the syrupy election. "Why was famous karachi halwa, sheer khurma, lab-e-shireen not in the race?" asked some and one of the obvious questions asked was: "Is gulab jamun a product of this part of earlier India, now Pakistan, or is it the son of the soil?"

Gulab jamun actually came to India from Persia or modern day Iran. The Indian gulab jamun originated from an Arabic dessert called luqmat al-qadi and became popular during the reigns of Shah Jahan (1638 to 1658), when gulab jamun was accidently prepared by his Persian chef. It was introduced as a royal dessert, which gradually came to common man's dining table. Culinary historian Michael Krondl believes that both luqmat-al-qadi and gulab jamun may have been derived from a Persian dish with rose water syrup being a common connection between the two. He further says: "The Indian recipe is more complex than in the Middle East, requiring a mixture of dried and fresh milk thickened with flour. But in Iran, the mixture is fried and soaked in rosewater syrup."

Having conquered the north and central India, gulab jamun made late entry into Bengal. Indian culinary historian KT Achaya writes in his "A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food" that about 1908, Krishan Chandra Das, son of legendary Nobin Chandra Das of Kolkata, who is known as the creator of spongy rosogulla, developed gulab jamun besides khir-mohan, cham-cham etc. Gulab jamun may be round or rounded rectangular and is generally brownish red in colour. But there is kala jam, too, which is round and this variant gets its signature black-purple colour and crisp texture from the extra sugar that is added to its batter before being deep-fried at high temperature.

Pantua and ledikeni are similar to gulab jamun and could be called Bengali variants of that dish. Ledikeni is corruption of Lady Canning, the wife of the Viceroy Lord Charles Canning, who had come to India to be with her husband. Bhim Chandra Nag, an ace confectioner of Kolkata, was asked to prepare a special sweet for Lady Canning, who loved sweets. It led to the birth of ledikeni. She served ledikeni as dessert on occasions and parties hosted by her and made it very popular.

In Himachal, I have tasted gulab jamun at quite a few places. Have you tasted gulab jamun by confectioners near the DC office in Mandi and on the descent to Railway Station, Solan, from near former DC Office? These used to be really delicious. If you happen to go to Katangi, a town near Jabalpur, eat gulab jamun as 'jhurre ka rasgulla'. It is called rasgulla there and is bigger in size than the normal gulab jamun, but has kept its taste for the past 100 years. In

Rajasthan, the gulab jamun balls are cooked in gravy of nuts and tomato to prepare gulab jamun ki sabzi. A sweet tooth told me that there was Gulab Jamun Highway in UP, where over a 100 shops sell fresh and fluffy gulab jamuns in earthen plates in half-a-kilometer stretch along the Delhi-Shahjahanpur- Lucknow National Highway near Maigalganj village in Lakhimpur district.

In Shimla, though each confectioner calls his gulab jamun as the best, yet Google reports Baljees' gulab jamun only. A survey was conducted on gulab jamun and 74 per cent placed Baljees' gulab jamun excellent or very good, 15 per cent average and 11 per cent gave it the below average ratings. IJ Kalra, owner of Nalini, told me that his gulab jamuns were the best in town and it sell like hot cakes receiving accolades for its taste and quality from one and all. Minakshi Chaudhry in 'Kullu Cuisine' mentions a sweet shop of Akhara Bazaar that serves a Himachali thali of sepu vadi, rajmah, rice, mushroom-mutter ka madra, lingri ka achaar, salad and on top of it, in dessert, a gulab jamun. Gulab jamun with pure pahari dishes in the same thali! Is it not an outsider? I do not know, but in the present wedding parties in Himachal, a combination of gulab jamun-rabri or gulab jamun-ice-cream is served, which attracts swarms of the dessert lovers.

So, Pakistan though you may claim gulab jamun as your national sweet, the ancient and modern history is on the Indian side. Politicians, be ready to pick up the swords.

Tailpiece

A friend told me that he had several plates of gulab jamuns yesterday and today, he was suffering from julab gamuns (visiting toilet to redress dysentery).