A Guide to Indian Sweets: What to Order at the Mithai Counter in Kingston

Standing in front of an Indian sweet counter for the first time is a particular kind of overwhelming. There are thirty trays. Everything is arranged in neat diamonds and spheres. Some of it has silver on top. Nothing is labelled in a way that tells you what it tastes like.

So here's the plain version — what each one actually is, which to start with, and how to buy them without guessing.

First, the two families

Almost every Indian sweet comes from one of two bases, and knowing which is which tells you a lot before you taste anything.

Khoya-based. Khoya is milk that's been slowly cooked down until most of the water is gone and what's left is thick, dense and faintly caramelised. It's the base for barfi, peda and most of the fudge-like sweets. Rich, dense, and best in small pieces.

Chhena-based. Chhena is fresh curdled milk, soft and springy, closer to a fresh cheese. It's the base for rasgulla and rasmalai — the Bengali side of the sweet world. Lighter, wetter, less heavy on the palate.

Then there's a third group that doesn't fit either: fried batter sweets soaked in syrup, like jalebi and gulab jamun.

The ones worth knowing

Gulab jamun — soft fried dough balls soaked in rose-scented sugar syrup, served warm. This is the friendliest sweet on the counter and the one to start with if you've never had mithai. Sweet, warm and completely unchallenging.

Rasgulla — white chhena balls in a light, clear syrup. Spongy, squeaky, much less sweet than they look. If gulab jamun feels heavy to you, this is the lighter cousin.

Rasmalai — flattened chhena discs sitting in thickened, cardamom-scented milk, topped with pistachio. A lot of people's favourite. Cold, creamy, floral.

Barfi — the diamond-cut fudge squares. Comes in plain milk, coconut, pistachio, chocolate and a dozen other variations. Dense and sliceable.

Kaju katli — thin diamonds of ground cashew and sugar, often topped with edible silver leaf. Smooth, mild, and the most commonly gifted sweet in India. If you're bringing something to someone's house and don't know their taste, bring this.

Ladoo — spheres. Besan ladoo is made from roasted gram flour and ghee, nutty and crumbly. Motichoor ladoo is made from tiny fried droplets of batter pressed together, so it comes apart into little beads.

Jalebi — orange spirals of fermented batter, deep fried and dropped straight into syrup. Crisp on the outside, dripping inside. Best eaten within an hour of being made, which is why good shops fry them fresh.

Soan papdi — flaky, layered cubes that dissolve rather than chew. Strange texture, very hard to stop eating.

Mysore pak — gram flour, sugar and a serious amount of ghee, set into a porous block. Rich in a way that surprises people.

Halwa — a whole category rather than one sweet. Gajar ka halwa is grated carrot slow-cooked in milk and ghee, served warm in winter. Sooji halwa is semolina based.

Ghevar — a Rajasthani disc with a honeycomb structure, made by dropping thin batter into hot ghee so it sets into a lace. Crisp, then soaked in syrup and often topped with rabri, pistachio and silver leaf. Seasonal, associated with the monsoon and with Teej and Raksha Bandhan. It's a specialty item — most sweet shops in Canada don't make it, and it's one of the things people travel for.

Which to buy if you don't know where to start

First time, eating now: gulab jamun or rasmalai. Both are gentle, both are obvious.

Bringing a gift: kaju katli or a mixed box. Kaju katli is the safe universal choice.

You don't like very sweet things: rasgulla, or besan ladoo, which is nuttier than it is sugary.

You want the one people talk about: ghevar, when it's on.

Buying for a group: a mixed box. Most people find one they love and it's rarely the one they expected.

How long do Indian sweets keep?

This is the question nobody asks and everybody should.

Milk-based sweets — rasmalai, rasgulla, gulab jamun, most barfi — are fresh dairy. Refrigerate them and eat within two to four days. They're made in small batches for a reason.

Drier sweets — soan papdi, kaju katli, besan ladoo — keep considerably longer at room temperature, usually a couple of weeks in a sealed box.

Jalebi is best the day it's made, ideally the hour it's made.

If you're buying for an event, ask which items travel and which don't. A box of the wrong things three days early is a waste of good mithai.

A note on silver leaf

The thin silver film on kaju katli and ghevar is called vark. It's edible, food-grade, and has been used on Indian sweets for centuries. It has no flavour. It's decorative, and it signals that a sweet is meant for an occasion.

Where to buy Indian sweets in Kingston

We run a full sweet counter alongside the restaurant at 841 Norwest Road. Mithai is made fresh on site rather than shipped in, so what's on the counter changes through the week and through the festival calendar — ghevar around Teej and Raksha Bandhan, extra trays and gift boxes at Diwali, and the everyday range in between.

We do gift boxes, customisable by the piece, which is what most people want when they're bringing something to a wedding, a housewarming, an office or a festival dinner. We can put a box together while you wait, or take an order ahead for a larger one.

We've been in Kingston for three years, and the sweet counter is genuinely the part of the shop we're proudest of.

Come in and try something. If you tell whoever's at the counter what you usually like — chocolate, nuts, not too sweet, something for a gift — they'll point you at the right tray. That's a much better system than guessing from the names.

Call 613-389-0006 or come by 841 Norwest Rd, Kingston.