Most of what makes a sweet good shows up before you eat it. Here is what we look for, sweet by sweet.
Kaju katli
The edges should be clean and sharp, cut in one pass, with every diamond the same size. The surface should be smooth and pale, not shiny with grease. If there is silver leaf, it should lie flat and even. A good piece bends a little before it snaps, and the cashew should come through before the sugar does.
Ladoo
A motichoor ladoo should hold its round shape on the plate and give way as soon as you bite. If it crumbles when you pick it up, it was rolled too dry. If it feels heavy and dense, there is too much syrup. You should be able to see the tiny pearls of boondi, each one separate.
Barfi
Barfi should cut cleanly with a knife and keep its edges. Look at the sides of the box: a film of oil or beads of moisture are signs it was not set properly. A milk barfi should smell of milk and ghee, with cardamom in the background, not of vanilla essence.
Gulab jamun
Press one gently with a spoon. It should be soft all the way to the centre, with the syrup soaked right through. A hard or dry core means the dough was rushed. The syrup itself should taste of cardamom and rose, not just sugar.
The smell test, for anything
Open the box and breathe in. You should smell ghee, milk, nuts and spice. A flat, oily smell usually means the fat was cheap.
One rule that covers all of them
The sweetness should carry the main ingredient, not hide it. In a pista burfi you should taste pistachio. In a besan ladoo you should taste roasted gram flour. If all you notice is sugar, the recipe is doing the hiding.
We have made mithai to this standard since 2009, and every box at our four stores and online is held to it. Shop our sweets.
