By Namya Sinha
Mihidana, a sweet dish from Bengal that looks just as beautiful as it sounds. Tiny golden-orange hued pearls, glistening and soaked in sugar syrup, appear like edible jewels. At first glance, you might be tempted to mistake it for boondi, a sweet more commonly found in North India and often offered to Lord Hanuman on Tuesdays. But look closer and you鈥檒l notice the difference. Unlike boondi, mihidana consists of minuscule, delicate beads, finer in texture and clustered together thanks to the richness of the syrup that binds them. It is made from a blend of three kinds of rice: Kaminibhog, Gobindobhog and Basmati, combined with besan (gram flour). A batter is prepared by mixing these with a hint of saffron, lending not only colour but a whisper of fragrance. This batter is then poured through a perforated ladle into hot oil, creating a shower of tiny beads that are deep-fried until they achieve a golden hue. Once crisp, they are immediately dunked into a hot sugar syrup, where they soak in sweetness and come alive. This legendary sweet from Bardhaman, West Bengal, was granted its Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2017. The name 鈥楳ihidana鈥 loosely translates to 鈥榤ihi鈥, meaning fine, and 鈥榙ana鈥, meaning grain. A dish that looks like it belongs in a jeweller鈥檚 window rather than on a plate, mihidana is more than a century old. It was, in fact, created to impress none other than the then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. How Mihidana Was Born According to local lore, mihidana was invented along with another famous sweet, Sitabhog (which also received a GI tag in 2017), during Lord Curzon鈥檚 visit to Bardhaman in 1904. His visit was to officially confer the title of Maharaja Adhiraja upon Bijay Chand Mahtab, ruler of the princely state of Bardhaman. As Priyadarshini Chatterjee writes for Cond茅 Nast Traveller, “Bijay Chand arranged for a grand reception and an imposing gateway was built by Italian masons in 1903 and christened Curzon Gate in the viceroy鈥檚 honour. Fireworks lit up the skies above the waters of the sprawling Krishnasagar lake and a grand feast was arranged. No expenses were spared to make this a special event, and Maharaja Bahadur summoned a prominent local confectioner, Bhairab Chandra Nag, to create something exceptional to impress the Viceroy.” Nag began experimenting with boondi but soon found himself crafting much smaller beads. Inspired, he explored further with ingredients and proportions until a completely new mishti was born. The result was mihidana. The stiff, upper-lip British official was, quite unexpectedly, delighted. Lord Curzon was so thoroughly charmed by Nag鈥檚 creation that he issued him a signed certificate of appreciation. In it, he noted how impressed he was by the two sweets, Sitabhog and Mihidana, and how much he relished them. 鈥淭hey were wonderful inventions for the taste buds that he had never perceived before,鈥 states the website of Get Bengal. Over a century later, Mihidana continues to glisten in Bengal鈥檚 sweet shops, offering a taste of nostalgia with every bite.