Indian Sweets names with pictures, Best Indian sweets to buy in India

Kaju Burfi is plain burfi with the addition of ground cashew nuts and flavoured with saffron. There is a silver foil on top of the burfi known as 'vark' or 'Varakh'. This silver foil on Indian sweets is made with pure silver metal which is not at all toxic to our body. The vark or varakh silver foil on sweets are extremely thin and only a very minute quantity will be consumed. So the vark or varakh silver foil on sweets is not at all harmful to health.

Coconut Burfi is different from the barfis above in that milk is not used. It is made with sugar syrup, grated coconuts and flavoured with Cardamom.

Rasgulla is a Bengali sweet made with freshly made cheese. The fresh cheese is flavoured and then dipped in a sugar syrup. It is very popular in India and traditionally sold in clay pots in Orissa and Bengal where this sweet is believed to have originated. Now Rasgulla is available in cans with sugar syrup.

Mysore Pak originated in Mysore State or now called Karnataka. It is made primarily with Chickpea flour (gram flour), Butter Oil (ghee) and sugar. It is a delicious sweet

Halwa is a sort of soft rubbery translucent sweet made by slow heating together of flour, butter oil (ghee), sugar and flavour ingredients like Cardamom, Saffron and the like. Halva is a popular sweet not only in India but also in the Middle East.

Carrot Halwa as the name suggests is made with grated Carrots instead of flour in the halwa described above. Carrot Halva is more crumbly rather than the rubbery or gelatinous type of Halva above.

Gulab Jamun is a popular sweet in South India. It is made from fried, golf ball sized balls of a batter of white wheat flour, milk powder, raising agents, etc. These brown balls are then served dipped in a rose flavoured sugar syrup.

Jalebi is a sweet, shaped like pretzels, and normally an orange yellow colour. It is a very popular sweet in India. It is made by deep frying a batter made from Chickpea flour and then dipping it in a sugary solution.

Ladoos are orange yellow in color and golf ball size. It is the sweet of choice in India to celebrate a happy occasion – like a wedding or passing an exam. It is made from Chickpea flour, sugar crystals and special flavoring spices like cardamom. It tastes great.

Payasam is a porridge that is sweet. There are several varieties. Some are made with Cow’s milk, others with Coconut milk. The sweetening agent can be sugar or Jaggery (sugarcane molasses). The solids can vary from Dal (split peas) to Vermicelli or to ripe bananas and other ingredients.

Kheer is the Hindi name of Payasam as described above. Kheer is Payasam in Malayalam and Tamil or Payesh in Bengali. The term Kheer originated from the Sanskrit word for milk "Ksheeram". Similarly Payasa, Payasam and Payesh also derived from another word for milk in Sanskrit "Payas".