Bal Mithai- Almora ki ‘Saugat’
Baal Mithai is the ‘Saugat’of Almora. Any body who visits Almora invariably purchases Bal Mitha and Singori of Almora, because once you tell your kith and kin or friends that you are coming from Almora, they would promptly demand the Bal Mithai and Singori of Almora. Almora is famous as the Cultural Capital of Uttarakhand. But it is also famous for its sweet products-Bal Mithai and Singori. You must have heard Mathura ke peday, Agra ka Petha, Sandila ke Laddu and so on. Bal mithai is a speciality of the Almora district. It is said that once upon a time the Bal Mithai and Pera of Kosi (a place 10 Kms. from Almora on Ranikhet route) was famous and during that period the Singori of Almora used to be famous. But with the times, Almora being a populous place, many shops were opened at Almora. Long back ago the Bal Mithai of Pyare Lal Kanhaiya Lal used to be famous and the names of Gopi and Gosain, Halwai (sweet maker) were famous. At present the Bal Mithai, Singori and Pera of Khim Singh Mohan Singh is famous.
The preparation of Bal and Singori sweets dates back to the domain of Chand rulers. No body knows about when exactly this sweet started being prepared and sold. The British have also not mentioned any thing about this sweet in the Gazetteer. But there are shops which started preparing this sweet as back as 200-250 years. This sweet used to be prepared from the Khoya (condensed milk) coming from village Khunt, Dhamas, Sheetalakhet etc. The villagers used to bring Khoya in a special basket and the Khoya used to be sold sometimes by auction. The specialty of this Khoya was that it used to be pure and Bal Mithai could be retained for a longer period. But now most of the Khoya is purchased from Bareilly, which is not that pure as the Pahari Khoya used to be. Naturally there is difference in taste. Even today the Pahari-Khoya made preparation of Bal Mithai is superior in taste. It is believed that the Bal Mithai of Almora was introduced in Srinagar (Garhwal) which used to be the Capital of Garhwal. After the construction of Tehri Dam, the Bal Mithai is becoming a thing of the past in Garhwal. In Srinagar now there are only two-three shops which prepare this sweet. In Almora there are about 60-65 shops which prepare the Bal Mithai. Nearly 400 families are connected with the preparation of this sweet. Every day about 10 to 12 Quintal Bal Mithai, Singori, Pera, and Malai ke Laddu are prepared.
Bal Mithai is a very popular sweet dish of this region. It is high on taste as well as nutrition. The Bal Mithai and Chocolate has elasticity or tenderness to eat and is a favourite dish and is liked by everyone. To prepare 1 Kg.of Bal Mithai, you need Sugar 400 Gms. Small white Sugar pills 100 Gms. Cook Khoya in a cauldron and keep stirring it on slow fire, till it becomes brown. Garnish with small sugar balls and your mouthwatering Bal Mithai is ready to serve.
Singori is another tasty sweet which also is a specialty of Kumaon and is prepared from Khoya (Condensed Milk) and coconut. A special feature of this sweet is that it requires a leaf named 'Malu ka patta’ which is found in the hills of Uttarakhand. Cook Khoya and keep stirring it on slow fire without changing its colour. Add Sugar mix well. Add grated Coconut and crushed Green Cardamom powder. Fill the cooked Khoya in small portions into the Malu leaf and wrap up the leaf. Keep the cooked Khoya in small portion on the leaf and wrap up the leaf like cone. Singhori is a sweetmeat molded in the above leaf that results in little cones fragrant with an elusive scent of the leaf packaging. Yet another preparation ‘Chocolate’ is milk reduced to a solid form, set and cut into chunks while Bal Mithai is the same “chocolate” studded with sugar balls.
To finish, I would like to narrate an incident about Bal Mithai. Some times back one of my friends visited my house. On return after a month, his son sent me a message that he wants that sweet which has Homeopathic medicine studded on it. I was slightly confused, because I could not remember the sweet that was offered to him. He reminded me of our visit to Almora where we purchased this sweet. Well the confusion was over and I promptly sent him a packet of Bal Mithai of Almora, because the ‘Homeopathic medicine’ (sugar balls) studded sweet was none other than Bal Mithai.
