{"id":8490,"date":"2026-10-26T18:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T09:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8490"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:50:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:50:53","slug":"mihidana","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/mihidana\/","title":{"rendered":"Mihidana"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mihidana (\u09ae\u09bf\u09b9\u09bf\u09a6\u09be\u09a8\u09be) is a Bengali sweet made by frying a batter of rice flour and pulse flour into extremely fine grains and soaking them in sugar syrup. It is known as a specialty of Bardhaman, a town in West Bengal also called Burdwan in English. In the name, mihi means \u201cfine\u201d and dana means \u201cgrain.\u201d Its distinctive feature is that the fine grains are not rolled into balls but are heaped up and eaten as they are.<\/p>\n

Making grains through small holes<\/h2>\n

A batter of rice flour, chickpea flour known as besan, and water is dropped into hot fat from a utensil with small holes to form grains. Rice such as Gobindobhog and Kaminibhog, ghee, sugar and saffron are the ingredients cited in descriptions of Bardhaman\u2019s mihidana. Its yellow appearance is also well known, but the rice variety, the coloring method and the proportion of pulse flour vary from maker to maker.<\/p>\n

The related boondi is also made by dropping a batter soft enough to flow, made with pulse flour, through a perforated ladle and frying it. For mihidana, a brass utensil with especially fine holes is used. The batter is dropped into ghee and fried into grains, then lifted out and drained of excess fat; these are the steps before the grains are moved into the syrup.<\/p>\n

\"Mihidana<\/p>\n

Mihidana made up of fine grains. The gloss of the syrup-soaked grains is visible. Photo: Rajeeb Dutta, 2020-09-30, location unknown. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Downscaled version from the source; no further edits.<\/p>\n

Frying, soaking and draining the syrup<\/h2>\n

The drained grains are transferred to the syrup and left to absorb sweetness and moisture until soft, and then the excess syrup is drained off. In the finished sweet, the shape of each individual grain can still be made out, yet the fine grains gather into a soft mass. It is a sweet that combines frying with soaking in syrup: the grains are first fried to give them their shape, then finished soft with syrup.<\/p>\n

If the grains are pressed together further, they can also take a form close to the boondi or motichoor type of laddu<\/a>. Whereas a laddu is a single piece made by rolling grains into a ball, mihidana can be eaten as fine grains heaped on a plate, and it is sometimes paired with sitabhog<\/a>, another specialty of Bardhaman. White, rice-grain-like sitabhog and yellow mihidana can be told apart by appearance, but sitabhog also differs in using chhena, made by curdling milk, in its dough.<\/p>\n

\"Mihidana<\/p>\n

Mihidana photographed at a shop in Saktigarh, India. Small grains are piled up, with brown round sweets alongside. Photo: Biswarup Ganguly, 2014-06-29, Saktigarh, West Bengal, India. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY 3.0<\/a>. Downscaled version from the source; no further edits.<\/p>\n

Two periods in the story of a royal sweet<\/h2>\n

Accounts of mihidana\u2019s origin feature the royal family of Bardhaman and the Nag family of confectioners. The family\u2019s own account links a story that Khetranath Nag made it in the time of Mahtab Chand with a story that Bhairab Chandra Nag served it when Curzon, the Viceroy of India, visited in 1904.<\/p>\n

In the latter story, the king, Bijay Chand Mahtab, sought a special sweet to entertain the Viceroy, and the confectioner served mihidana and sitabhog, which were well received. The family tradition, including the former story, however, tells of production earlier than that. In the story that tells of production by an earlier generation of the family, the beginnings go back to the 19th century, and the 1904 offering is positioned as the occasion that made the sweet widely known.<\/p>\n

Mihidana bearing the Bardhaman name was registered as a geographical indication in India in 2017. The protection covers the name of the place together with the skills and reputation of the region that produces the product. The process of grinding rice into flour, dropping the batter through small holes to fry it into grains and soaking them in syrup has been handed down as what gives this town\u2019s sweet its character.<\/p>\n

From festival sweet to shelves abroad<\/h2>\n

Mihidana is also offered on Dashami, which falls near the end of Durga Puja. It is a sweet used in household and community rituals, and also a gift carried from the town to other places. In August 2021 it was depicted together with sitabhog on a commemorative cover from India Post, and in October of the same year the first export consignment of mihidana registered under the name of its place of origin was sent to Bahrain. Tasting sales were also held in supermarkets there, introducing the local festive sweet to shelves abroad. The rice variety used for the flour and the substitution of fats also affect price, and producers have organized associations to protect local ingredients and skills.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
Mihidana served with gaja for the Dashami celebrations (October 16, 2021, location unknown). Fine yellow grains and a large fried sweet are combined in a single dish. Photo: Billjones94 \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons; no content alterations or cropping in this use.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Gobindobhog \/ Kaminibhog<\/strong>: Names of rice varieties used for Bardhaman mihidana.<\/p>

Motichoor<\/strong>: A type of laddu in which finely fried grains are bound together with syrup.<\/p>

Besan<\/strong>: Chickpea flour. It is used in Indian fried foods and sweets.<\/p>

Ghee<\/strong>: A fat made by clarifying milk fat. It is used as a frying fat and for flavor.<\/p>

Boondi<\/strong>: Small drops of batter, such as pulse-flour batter, fried in droplet shapes. There are sweet and savory versions.<\/p>

Laddu<\/strong>: A general term for South Asian sweets in which various ingredients are formed into balls.<\/p>

Chhena<\/strong>: A dairy product made by curdling milk with acid and draining off the liquid.<\/p>

Geographical indication<\/strong>: A system that protects the names of products whose quality or reputation is linked to a specific place of origin.<\/p>

Mahtab Chand<\/strong>: A 19th-century king of Bardhaman. According to the Nag family tradition, production of the sweet began during his reign.<\/p>

Khetranath Nag<\/strong>: The confectioner said in the family tradition to have made mihidana.<\/p>

Curzon<\/strong>: Viceroy of India during British rule. Sweets are said to have been served to him during his visit to Bardhaman in 1904.<\/p>

Bhairab Chandra Nag<\/strong>: A Bardhaman confectioner said to have made the sweets presented to Curzon.<\/p>

Bijay Chand Mahtab<\/strong>: The king of Bardhaman who received Curzon.<\/p>

Durga Puja<\/strong>: A festival honoring the goddess Durga. It is especially popular in Bengal.<\/p>

Dashami<\/strong>: The tenth day of the festival, a holiday falling near the end of Durga Puja.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. Intellectual Property India, \u201cBardhaman Mihidana,\u201d Application 526, Journal No. 93<\/a> \u2014 Ingredients, shaping through small holes, frying, syrup and festivals, and the registration certificate. The origin story is as described by the applicant.<\/li>
  2. Uttarakhand Open University, \u201cRegional Cuisines of India II,\u201d pp.219\u2013220<\/a> \u2014 Explanation of the name and the Nag family tradition. The laddu process at the end was judged to be an interpolation and is not used.<\/li>
  3. Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India \/ PIB, \u201cMihidana exported to Bahrain,\u201d 2021<\/a> \u2014 The commemorative cover, the export consignment of the GI product and in-store tastings.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Mihidana (\u09ae\u09bf\u09b9\u09bf\u09a6\u09be\u09a8\u09be) is a Bengali sweet made by frying a batter of rice flour and pulse flour into extremely fine grains and soaking them in sugar syrup. It is known as a specialty of Bardhaman, a town in West Bengal also called Burdwan in English. In the name, mihi means \u201cfine\u201d and dana means \u201cgrain.\u201d Its distinctive feature is that the fine grains themselves are heaped up and eaten together as a mass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7562,"menu_order":261,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Mihidana","subtitle":"Making grains through small holes","topics":"Rice flour and pulse flour dropped through small holes and fried \/ Fine grains soaked in syrup \/ A story handed down from the royal family of Bardhaman","country":"Bardhaman, West Bengal, India","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["grain"],"texture":[],"occasion":[],"method":["fried"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[169],"class_list":["post-8490","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t