Bal mithai ( Kumaoni: बाल मिठाई, ''Bāl Mithai'') is a brown chocolate-like fudge, made with roasted khoya and coated with white balls made of sugar coated roasted poppy seeds. It is a popular sweet from Kumaon,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

History

Bal mithai originated in Kumaon. It was an invention of locals of Lal Bazaar,

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ') is a municipal corporation and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

, in the early twentieth century. Scholars believe that bal mithai initially must have been the name of the prime offering to the Sun God. Joga Lal Sah, a halwai was in business since 1865 in Lal Bazaar,

. He is the one credited for inventing the Bal mithai as it is known today. His shop is still functioning in

and is run by his descendants. Bal mithai came to prominence in the early 1900's. Though the most popular vendor of Bal mithai in Almora is the shop 'Kheem Singh Mohan Singh Rautela'. Kheem Singh Rautela and Mohan Singh Rautela were brothers and workers in the shop of Joga Lal Sah. They opened their own sweets shop near KMOU bus station. Since many bus passengers bought their Bal mithai to get a taste of the popular sweet, their business flourished. Their shop is still running today. According to local legends, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Bal mithai was carried by the soldiers from Kumaon fighting in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

for the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

. The legend became so popular, that local advertisements boasted, ‘ हमारी शाखा बर्मा में भी ’ (we have branches in Burma too).

Recipe

Bal Mithai is made by cooking khoya (evaporated milk cream) with cane sugar until it becomes dark brown in color, colloquially called 'chocolate' for its color resemblance. This is allowed to settle and cool, and cut into cubes which are then coated with small white balls made of sugar coated roasted poppy seeds.

Popularity

Bal mithai has long been a specialty of the

Almora district Almora is a District (India), district in the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand state, India. The headquarters is at Almora. It is 1,638 meters above sea level. The neighbouring regions are Pithoragarh district to the east, Chamoli district to the w ...

and neighbouring districts of Kumaon, along with ''singhauri'', another preparation of flavoured khoya that comes wrapped in oak leaves.

Geographical Indications Protection

There has been a recent move to make local sweet makers aware of intellectual property rights, and

Geographical Indications A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town or region). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, is inten ...

Protection (GI Protection) under the Geographical Indications of Goods Act of 1999, which would allow them to gain protection for local specialties such as bal mithai and singhauri, which are symbolic to Kumaon.Intellectual Property Rights Camp on GI Protection for ‘Baal Mithai’ & ‘Singhauri’
WTO-IPR, Bulletin, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Volume 6– Issue 2: March – April, 2007.

References

External links

Bal Mithai at Shabd ::Kumaon: Kala Shilp Aur Sanskriti :: www.himvan.com
{{Symbols of Uttarakhand Indian desserts Culture of Uttarakhand Almora