Petha (
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
: पेठा pronounced ) is a translucent soft
candy
Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English
Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...
from the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
made from
ash gourd
''Benincasa hispida'', the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, winter melon, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, Chinese preserving melon is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is the o ...
or white pumpkin, or simply ''petha'' in Hindi and Urdu).
[T. R. Gopalakrishnan ]
Preparation
Ash gourds, commonly referred to as white pumpkins, are a vegetable with a pale-green exterior and white, heavily-seeded, savoury inside that is used to make petha. The gourd is sliced into bite-sized pieces and then cured for a few hours in a solution of lime (not the citrus fruit; this is white calcium hydroxide). They boil the gourd pieces until they are soft after removing them from the lime solution, and then they soak them in a flavorful syrup. The final candy has a sugar-crisp exterior and an almost moist, sticky interior with a chewy, crystalline texture. The flavouring of Agra's confections is considered to be inventive, and candy counters in the city are rainbows of vibrantly coloured petha flavoured with everything from paan to rose.
With growing demand and innovation, more varieties of the original preparation are available. Many flavoured variants are available, e.g. ''kesar petha'', ''angoori petha'' etc. There are some other variations based on content, one with coconut mixed, another with some nuts put into it. Sometimes
kewda
Kewra, keora or kewda ( hi, केवड़ा, bn, কেওড়া, , ur, کیوڑہ, pa, ਕੇਵੜਾ) is an essential oil distilled from the male flower of the fragrant screwpine. The plant is native to Tropical Asia, Southeast Asia ...
essence is used to flavour petha.
Ammas cooking
History
Petha is said to have been in the subcontinent in various names like Oal and Oal ka Murabba in places like modern day Jharkhand and Bihar. There is a legend that says that it originated in Mughal kitchens under Shah Jahan and was used to feed the workers constructing the Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
but it's highly unlikely considering that there is no mention of Petha in cookbooks of Shah Jahan like Nuskha-e-Shahjahani also there are mentions of dishes resembling Petha before Mughals came to subcontinent not to mention it isn't like a typical Mughal sweet and Dishes which were rich in Milk and Mawa
Controversy
In Agra, where countless tiny businesses produce different varieties of the treat for visitors that come to view the Taj every year. When the government designated an 80-kilometer (50-mile) radius around the Taj Mahal as the "Taj Trapezium Zone" and outlawed the use of coal-powered industry in that area, the city's iconic confection became a source of dispute.
The Taj's white marble, which is readily stained by air pollution, was intended to be protected by the rule, but local petha producers, some of whom use coal to boil their sugar syrup, argued that the law damaged their operations.
Despite the controversy, the sweets are still abundant in bright rows in the sweet shops along the popular tourist route that leads to the Taj's entrance.
See also
*Peda
Peda () or Pera is a sweet dish hailing from the Indian subcontinent. It originated from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India. Usually prepared in thick, semi-soft, its main ingredients are khoa, sugar and traditional flavorings including cardamom see ...
*Mathura peda
Mathura peda is a North Indian sweet dish that originated from Mathura in India. In North India sweets prepared from mawa (khoya) are very popular and the peda is also a mawa sweet variety. Mathura peda is so famous in North India that the term ...
References
Indian desserts
Confectionery
Agra
Economy of Agra
Uttar Pradeshi cuisine
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