Monday, March 4, 2024

106. Bardhaman Mihidana

Bardhaman Mihidana is another scrumptious sweet dish from West Bengal. The delectable sweet is termed as micro-cousin of the traditional Boondi. The exotic sweet is delicious by taste as well as nutritionally sound. 

Mihidana is derived from two words, ‘Mihi’ meaning fine, and ‘Dana’, meaning grain. The word is literally translated to mean “fine grains”. This unique sweet dish was prepared to impress invited the then-Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. He was invited by then Maharaja of Burdwan, Vijaychand Mahatab.

Bardhaman Mihidana is made from powdered Gobindabhog or Kaminibhog rice, mixed with a small amount of Bengal gram flour and saffron for a golden colour. It is then blended with water by hand till its colour lightens. 

This mix is then poured through a brass ladle with tiny holes into a pot of ghee and deep-fried. The fine fried small yellow grains are dipped in sugar syrup and drained once soaked. Bay leaves are added to the sugar syrup to make the syrup flavour some. 

The fine fried small yellow grains are now dipped in this sugar syrup, allowed to get softened for a while. The pan was removed from oven after the softening of droplets by way of boiling. The preparation has to be stirred with ladle for some time after removing from oven and then kept aside.

Human skill is involved in each step of Mihidana preparation starting from mixing to packaging. In appearance, Mihidana and Sitabhog can be passed off as siblings, so many people like to take servings of both the desserts together. It is also used during “Dashame” - The greatest Utsav of Bengali (Durga Puja)

GI Tag Registration Date         : 29 April 2017

GI Tag Number                         : 526

Certificate Number                  : 290

Geographical Area                  : West Bengal

Special Cover Release Date   : 27 August 2021

Cancellation                             : Burdwan 713 101

Type                                          : GI Tag Cover

Cover Identification Number  : WB/10/2021

Enlarged View of Illustration

Enlarged View of Cancellation

Back Side Scan of Cover


No comments:

Post a Comment