This Kali Puja, Try 8 Chenna-Based Bengali Sweets, From Pantua To

Makha Sandesh

Quick Summary

Kali Puja 2026 falls on 8 November, the same day as Diwali, and during this time Bengali sweetmeat shops, especially the big ones like Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick, Putiram, and Girish Chandra Dey, have an increase in footfall. Chenna-based Bengali sweets are always popular, and the G.I-tagged rosogolla is always in demand, but other sweets made of the same ingredient seldom share the limelight. So, this festive season, a look at some of Bengal’s best.

Deep Dive

Some Bengali sweet dishes need no introduction, for they are part of the Bengali stereotype for those who are less acquainted with the region’s many chenna sweets. Besides rosogolla and sandesh, there are more sweets made of chenna which are loved by locals and sweet seekers; some were named after the British (ledikeni) and some have mischief hidden in their origins (jolbhora). With the introduction of the coagulation, or chenna-making technique, by the Portuguese in the 16th century, mishti-making changed from using the OG khoya to chenna. The practice remains, and ‘chana’, as it is locally known, still dominates sweets found in most Kolkata shops.

Bengali Mishti And Kali Puja Night

Most of India lights lamps for Lakshmi on Diwali night, while Bengal worships Kali at midnight on the same Amavasya or new moon day. Offerings include rice, lentils, fruit, and sweets, with narkel naru and sandesh often among them. The Bhog meal pairs khichuri and labra with Bengali sweets such as payesh and mishti polao, so the sweet box is planned well before Kali Puja begins.

For Kali Puja, Kolkata's sweet makers work mostly with chhena, the drained milk curd behind most mishti. It can be used in different ways after being kneaded, whether being fried, simmered in syrup or crystallised, which is why this one ingredient yields so many different sweets. Not everything here is plain chhena, though, and the nikuti sweet and shorer malai are stellar examples of how far the chhena can stretch. Shorer malai uses milk cream, and nikhuti mixes chhena with flour, and that range is why these sweets below deserve a place beside the better-known names on a Kali Puja sweet box.

Underrated Chenna-Based Mishti To Try This Kali Puja

If you are planning to try some Bengali mishti this Kali Puja, you should try the ones below or make them at home if you like making sweets.

1. Pantua

Touted to be Bengal's close cousin of the gulab jamun (something Bengalis often take offence to), the pantua sweet has a denser, grainy texture on the inside and a thick golden-brown crust. It is an easy first pick for a Kali Puja sweet box. Its dough is made with chhena, semolina, milk, ghee and sugar syrup.

• How it is made: Chhena is kneaded with semolina, shaped into balls, fried in ghee until golden and soaked in warm syrup.

• Where to find it in Kolkata: Sen Mahasay in Sovabazar, or Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick, whose Ballygunge outlet lists it.

2. Chanar Jilipi

Similar in spirit and shape to the typical orange jalebi, chanar jilipi has a chhena dough that is much denser and not runny like the typical jalebi batter. It is mostly made with chhena, flour, semolina, ghee and cardamom powder, and suits a Kali Puja breakfast as well as dessert, and they are best eaten hot.

• How it is made: Crumbled chhena is kneaded with flour and soaked semolina, rolled into ropes, coiled, fried in ghee and dropped into syrup.

• Where to find it in Kolkata: Mouchak at Gariahat, Adi Haridas Modak at Shyambazar.

3. Shorer Malai

Shor, or sar (clotted milk cream), is the thick layer of cream that gathers on slow-boiling milk, and it is the anchor of this creamy sweet. In Krishnanagar, sar defines the local sweet map through sarbhaja and sarpuria, which layer cream with kheer and chhena. Shorer malai sits at the creamy end of the same family and is the one Kali Puja sweet here that moves away from chhena. It is made with milk cream, kheer and sugar, with chhena in some versions.

• How it is made: Sar is lifted off heated milk, dried into thin sheets and layered with kheer. Sarbhaja is then fried in ghee.

• Where to find it in Kolkata: Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick lists sor bhaja and sorer roll. Bangla Mishti Hub in New Town has hosted a Krishnagar counter for shorbhaja and shorpuriya, though shop lineups rotate. Other sweet shops like Sen Mahashay and Kamdhenu Sweets might sell something similar under the names of malai roll and malai chop. 

4. Chana Murki

Murki refers to the crystallised sugar coating, and this Bengali sweet is only for those who have a strong sweet tooth. Cubes of fresh chhena are simmered in syrup until the sugar dries into a thin frosted shell, leaving the inside soft, the only flavour coming from the usual cardamom and sometimes rose water. It is not fried, and the sugar is not caramelised, which sets it apart from Odisha's chhena gaja.

• How it is made: Chhena is cut into 1.5 to 2 cm cubes, cooked in one-string syrup and stirred until the sugar crystallises. It is also the easiest Bengali sweets recipe on this list to try at home before Kali Puja.

• Where to find it in Kolkata: Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick sells it by weight, including a 250 g pack at its Kankurgachi outlet.

5. Ledikeni

Named after Lady Charlotte Canning, wife of Viceroy Charles Canning, this sweet was created by the legendary sweet maker Bhim Chandra Nag in the late 1850s. This sweet looks quite similar to pantua and sometimes can be made in oblong shapes as well. It is made with a mixture of chhena, semolina, flour, sugar, and cardamom powder, turned into balls or oblong shapes and deep-fried. Ledikeni pops up in sweet shops and is also sold during Kali Puja.

• How it is made: The dough is fried until reddish-brown and soaked in syrup.

• Where to find it in Kolkata: Bhim Chandra Nag, 5 Nirmal Chandra Street, Bowbazar, a shop founded in 1826, and behind the invention of the sweet.

6. Jolbhora Sandesh

Jol means liquid, and bhora means filled, and like the ledikeni, this Bengali sweet too has a tale tied to it, a mischievous one between a son-in-law and his mother-in-law, the wife of the landlord of Telinipara. The jolbhora sandesh is a firm, moulded sandesh with a hollow centre of sugar syrup that spills when you bite in. Back in the day, around 1290, when it was invented, it had ‘dolo’, a syrup concocted from refined jaggery. These days, once winter sets in, the filling turns to nolen gur, or date palm jaggery. The sweet is credited to Chandannagar and the shop of Surya Kumar Modak. Among the sandesh in Bengali sweets, it is the showpiece, given its ornate form, and a good sweet for Kali Puja gifting.

• How it is made: Chhena is cooked with sugar into a dough, pressed in a two-part mould, filled with syrup and sealed.

• Where to find it in Kolkata: Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick, 2 Padda Pukur Road, Bhowanipore, serves a narom-pak version. Girish Chandra Dey & Nakur Chandra Nandy, 56 Ramdulal Sarkar Street, also make it.

7. Makha Sandesh

‘Makha’ refers to kneading, and sandesh is the sweet, and this is perhaps the only sweet in this list that does not have a form. It is served in small bowls, like you would payesh or phirni and is best consumed fresh for the finest flavour. This is a good Kali Puja sweet that can be a good meal ender. Makha sandesh is chhena cooked with sugar or jaggery (nolen gur if available) and mashed into a soft, spoonable mass.

• How it is made: Chhena is cooked with the sweetener and mashed, then served soft rather than shaped.

• Where to find it in Kolkata: Girish Chandra Dey & Nakur Chandra Nandy, open since 1844, is known for makha sandesh served warm on a sal leaf. Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick also make it.

8. Nikhuti

Nikhuti, also spelt nikuti, is a small fried chhena-and-flour sweet soaked in syrup, much like a mini gulab jamun. The nikuti sweet is linked to Shantipur and Krishnanagar in Nadia. It is the soft bead-like sweet mixed into sitabhog mishti, Burdwan's rice-flour-and-chhena strands, and it also turns up in chilled payesh, one of the Bengali sweet dishes served around Kali Puja. It is also made with a similar dough as the pantua and ledikeni.

• How it is made: A simple Bengali sweets recipe of chhena and flour dough, rolled into small oblong pieces, fried in ghee on low heat and soaked in syrup.

• Where to find it in Kolkata: Bangla Mishti Hub, near Gate 3 of Eco Park in New Town, has a Burdwan counter known for sitabhog. Adhar Chandra Das & Sons of Krishnanagar, founded in 1902, sells nikhuti, so check for a current Kolkata outlet.

Where To Find Each Mishti In Kolkata

Planning A Mishti Run Before Kali Puja

Plan the run a few days ahead of Kali Puja. Kolkata's heritage sweet shops, home to many Bengali sweets, are concentrated in the northern part of the city, so one route through Bowbazar, Hatibagan and Sovabazar can cover ledikeni, makha sandesh and pantua, along with other sandesh Bengali sweets. Add Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick in Bhowanipore for jolbhora and murki. Call ahead for chanar jilipi and shorer malai, and confirm timings and stock at each shop before you set out. Fresh chhena sweets are best eaten soon after purchase, so ask each place for their shelf life.