There is a variety of popular Pakistani traditional sweets, without them a celebration is just incomplete. If there is a wedding to be announced or a happy occasion of new birth, home or office, sweets are bought from the nearest sweet shop and send off to friends, family and neighbors. Pakistani sweets are mainly milk and sugar based. Most of the sweets are enjoyed cold and they taste best in their freshest forms. In Pakistan, no celebration or festival is complete without any one of the following traditional sweets:

BURFI
Burfi is the sweet of every celebration and festival. It is simply milk and sugar, cooked until it solidifies. Then it is cooled and cut in to desired shapes. Burfi varies in color according to its type. Its texture is soft and velvety. Burfi is the most popular and basic form of Pakistani sweet. And it is often made of different flavorful ingredients like gram, coconut, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, almonds, saffron and some new types are chocolate and carrot burfi.

GULAB JAMAN
Gulab Jaman is the star of Pakistani weddings event “Mehandi”. Gulab jaman is a popular traditional sweet. It is made of milk solids mainly khoya and flour, formed in to dough and then shaped in to balls, they are then deep fried and moved to cardamom, kewra or saffron fragranced sugar syrup. Gulab jamans are soft and velvety and dark brown to medium brown in color. They taste best when they are fresh and hot, but they are mostly enjoyed cold.  Gulab jaman are simply everyone’s favourite.

JALEBI
Jalebi is the sweet of Ramadan. It came to Subcontinent from Iran.  Jalebi is made of all-purpose flour, rice flour and curd. The ingredients are formed in to a smooth flowing batter, poured in a piping bag and deep fried in the shape of coils. Fried jalebis are then moved to sugar syrup which is sometimes fragranced. Jalebi is crispy and chewy and orange in color. It tastes best when fresh and hot. Jalebi dessert is also very popular in Pakistan. It is made by adding Jalebi to hot milk and left to soak in milk and soften up. This is usually enjoyed as breakfast.

LADDU
Laddu is the sweet of new child’s birth. It is said that, laddu was originated in Gujarat. The basic laddu is made of gram flour, sugar and ghee, mixed well and formed in to balls. There is a variety of laddus available in the sweets shop like moti chor laddu, coconut laddu, almond laddu, malai laddu, semolina laddu etc.

BALUSHAHI
Balushahi, the sweet of religious gatherings. It is made of all-purpose flour, baking powder, ghee and warm milk. The ingredients are knead together, mold in to balls, fried in ghee and dipped in sugar syrup. Balushahi is crispy and airy in texture and orange like in colour.

RASGULLA
Rasgulla is originally a popular sweet of Orissa, it is so delicious that its popularity spread to Bengal and now also known as a sweet of Subcontinent. It is made of freshly prepared cottage cheese, worked into dough, shaped in to balls and then cooked in sugar syrup. Rasgulla’s are enjoyed cold. Rasgulla is sometimes flavored by inserting a single nut of choice in them or lightly flavoring the sugar syrup. Rasgulla when cooked in creamy thick milk makes the dessert ras malai.