Bardhaman Sitabhog and Mihidana Tradition

Name: Bardhaman Sitabhog and Mihidana Tradition
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Bengali
Ingredients: 200 g chhana (fresh cheese); 60 g rice flour; 150 g gram flour (besan); 1 pinch yellow food-safe colour; 400 g Sugar; 500 ml Water; 3 g green cardamom powder; 20 g Ghee; 400 ml oil

A pair of Geographical Indication-tagged sweets from Bardhaman — fine golden mihidana strands and soft white rice-and-chhana sitabhog — historically created for a royal welcome.

🇮🇳India· West Bengal

Prep: 45 min
Cook: 30 min
Total: 75 min
Servings: 8
Difficulty: Hard
Calories: 180 kcal

Ingredients

0 of 9 gathered

Servings

200 g chhana (fresh cheese) — for sitabhog
60 g rice flour — for sitabhog dough
150 g gram flour (besan) — for mihidana batter
1 pinch yellow food-safe colour — or a few saffron strands, for mihidana
400 g Sugar — for syrup
500 ml Water — for syrup
3 g green cardamom powder
20 g Ghee
400 ml oil — for deep frying

Equipment

•Fine sev press or cloth with small holes
•Kadai

Nutrition

Per serving, approximate

Calories: 180 kcal
fat: 6 g
carbs: 30 g
fibre: 1 g
protein: 4 g
calories: 180 kcal

Instructions

1
Knead the chhana (fresh curd cheese) with rice flour until smooth. Press through a fine sev press (noodle maker) to form thin, short strands.
2
Deep-fry the sitabhog strands briefly in oil on low heat until just set and pale. Drain them without letting them brown.
3
Dissolve half the sugar in half the water until it stretches into a single thread between your fingers. Soak the fried strands briefly, drain, and fluff.
4
Whisk the gram flour with water and a pinch of yellow colour or saffron. Make a very thin, runny batter for the mihidana.
5
Heat oil in a kadai (deep pan). Pour the batter through a fine sev press or slotted ladle into the hot oil to form tiny droplets.
6
Fry the droplets briefly on low-medium heat until just cooked through and pale golden. Drain them well.
7
Make a second sugar syrup with the remaining sugar and water. Stir in cardamom powder and soak the fried mihidana for a few minutes.
8
Drain the mihidana lightly so it stays separate and moist. Mix a touch of ghee (clarified butter) into both sweets before serving together.

Chef's tips

Keep the frying oil at a gentle, low-medium temperature for both sweets, as high heat browns them before they cook through properly. The syrup for soaking should be light, not thick, so the final texture stays delicate rather than syrupy-heavy.

Ingredient substitutions

fine sev press → a piping bag with a very small round nozzle

Storage

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Reheating

Not applicable; served at room temperature.

Common mistakes to avoid

•Frying at too high a temperature, browning the delicate strands before they are cooked through.
•Oversoaking in syrup, making the sweets heavy and overly sticky rather than light.