Basundi is a popular sweet dish from West India. It’s made in Gujarat and Maharashtra households. South Indians have embraced some of the north Indian sweets and Basundi is one of them. The sweet is made by boiling full fat milk until it becomes thick and creamy and then sugar, nuts and some spices are added. It’s kept overnight in a fridge to give it a better taste.
The first time I tasted Basundi was at Nalpak restaurant at D Devaraj Urs Road, Mysore. This was a simple dish they served in a cup. They didn’t add nuts, but tasted wonderful. What I liked was that the sugar was minimal, so that we could enjoy the flavour of the cream. That Nalpak Restaurant at D Devaraj Urs road shut down almost 4-5 years ago. They shifted to a side road from Urs road that leads to Shivarampet. I haven’t visited that place.
Yesterday, I tried Basundi at Mahalakshmi sweets. It was too sugary. I could sense that they added too much sugar. I don’t know why they do this. By the end, I didn’t feel the satisfaction of having a good sweet, but rather a bitter feeling.
I think I should go to Nalpak Restaurant once and check if they are still serving Basundi and check if they have maintained the same simple taste of yesteryears.
One more sweet I enjoyed as a kid was Badam Halwa from Ramya Drive in Restaurant opposite to Yuvaraja’s college. They also shut down almost 5-7 years ago, since their contract was over. Sometime, I should write about this restaurant in a separate post.
