Blog Food & drink

2026-06-225 min readcheaphotels

Eight Punjabi sweets ranked by how good they actually taste, where to buy the best version, and how much it should cost per kilo.

1. Pinni

Pinni is the winter sweet of Punjab and the honest king of the mithai case — round, dense balls of atta (whole wheat flour) roasted slowly in desi ghee with jaggery or sugar, khoya, almonds and cashews. A good pinni holds together but crumbles when bitten; a bad one is dry and sandy. The best I have eaten is at Gopal Sweets in Patiala's Adalat Bazaar, ₹720/kg, made only from October through February when the ghee sets properly.

Amritsar's Kanha Sweets on Lawrence Road makes a strong urad-dal pinni that ranks close. Ludhiana's Krishna Sweets on Chaura Bazaar does an almond-heavy version at ₹880/kg. Homemade pinni from village kitchens is better than any shop version if you can get it — the roasting time (two hours minimum for the atta) and ghee quality are the variables. Ranked first because pinni is Punjab-specific in a way that gulab jamun or barfi are not, and the best examples are extraordinary.

2. Amritsari phirni

Phirni is ground-rice pudding cooked with milk, sugar and cardamom, chilled and set in shallow clay bowls. The Amritsari version uses coarse-ground rice for a slightly rough texture — smoother than kheer, rougher than European rice pudding. Kesar-pista is the traditional flavouring; the Ahuja Milk Bhandar version on Majith Mandi (open since 1955) at ₹80 per kulhad is the benchmark.

Novelty Sweets near the Golden Temple does an oversweet tourist version — skip. The village-fair versions during Baisakhi are often better than any shop, particularly in the Majha belt. Phirni does not travel — buy on the day, eat within four hours. Ranked second because the good versions are exquisite and the sweet is culturally specific, but a bad phirni is a very forgettable sweet, so the shop matters.

3. Sohan halwa (Amritsari)

Amritsari sohan halwa is a golden, chewy sheet halwa cooked from milk, sugar, ghee and gram flour, studded with almonds and pistachios. It differs from Ajmer's sohan halwa in texture — the Amritsari version is softer, less crystalline. Bansal Sweets on Hall Bazaar has been making it since 1938; ₹560/kg is the current rate. It travels well — wrapped in butter paper it lasts three weeks unrefrigerated.

The pull-and-fold technique used during cooking gives sohan halwa its layered texture; a bad batch is either grainy (undercooked) or brittle (overcooked). Buy from a shop with visible turnover — the sweet should have a shine and give slightly when pressed. Ranked third because it is Amritsar's most exportable sweet and the good versions are genuinely excellent, though it is heavier and richer than pinni.

4. Balushahi

Balushahi is a khoya-and-flour doughnut fried in ghee then dipped in cardamom-scented sugar syrup, with a distinctive flaky exterior and a soft, slightly crystallised centre. The Punjab version is thicker and less syrupy than the Bengali khaja and different in texture from the South Indian badusha. The Gurdas Ram Jalebi Wale shop in Amritsar's Katra Ahluwalia (yes, they do balushahi too) makes a benchmark version at ₹420/kg.

Best eaten within two days of frying; older balushahi becomes rock-hard. The trick is a slow fry at moderate heat to develop the layered exterior — mass-produced balushahi from supermarkets is usually too crisp and lacks the syrup-soaked centre. Ranked fourth because it is common across North India but the Punjabi version has a distinct texture, and the shop-fresh version at a good mithai wala is worth the visit.

5. Jalebi (fermented, hot)

Jalebi is not Punjab-specific but the Amritsari fermented jalebi is the best regional version and it deserves its rank. The batter is fermented overnight with yogurt, piped into hot ghee in the classic spiral, then dipped in saffron-cardamom syrup. Gurdas Ram Jalebi Wale in Katra Ahluwalia makes them from 6am to 11am — ₹360/kg, eaten hot from the pan with a wooden spoon. Ferozepur's Chawla Sweets does the best evening version.

Cold jalebi from a display case is a different (worse) sweet — this ranking is specifically the hot, morning version eaten within 15 minutes of frying. Pair with a milk-and-rabri combination for the classic Punjabi jalebi-rabri breakfast at Novelty Sweets or Kanha. Ranked fifth because a great hot jalebi is one of the best sweets in India, but the format limits when and where you can eat one.

6. Gulab jamun (khoya-based)

The Punjabi gulab jamun is denser and darker than the Bengali or generic Indian version, made from full-fat khoya rather than milk powder, fried in ghee not oil, and dipped in a lighter sugar syrup. Bikaner Sweets outlets across Punjab do a passable version; the specialist shops — Nirulas in Amritsar, Bhalla in Jalandhar — do a proper one at ₹460-540/kg. The kesar (saffron) variant with a whole almond inside is the wedding standard.

Cardinal signs of a good khoya gulab jamun: dark brown almost purple exterior, springs back when pressed, syrup does not pool when cut. Cheap versions are pale, spongy and cloyingly sweet. Ranked sixth because gulab jamun is not Punjab-specific and the excellent version is only marginally better than a good one elsewhere in North India, but the Punjabi khoya-based tradition is genuinely distinct.

7. Barfi (kaju, pista, and coconut)

Barfi is the display-case backbone of any Punjabi mithai shop — square or diamond pieces of set milk-based fudge, flavoured with cashew, pistachio, coconut, mango or plain khoya. The best barfi in Punjab is at Nirulas Sweets in Amritsar (established 1934), particularly the pista barfi at ₹840/kg with genuine pistachio paste, not just flavouring. Bhalla Sweets in Jalandhar does a strong kaju katli.

Barfi is a competent regional sweet that reaches its full expression when fresh and made with proper ingredients — the ₹200/kg supermarket versions are chalky and use vegetable fat. Ranked seventh because barfi is a national sweet with regional variants rather than a Punjabi specialty, but the best Punjabi shops make excellent versions. Kaju katli at a wedding is where you meet the top-end version.

8. Ghevar (Teej season)

Ghevar is technically a Rajasthani sweet but the Punjabi version served during Teej (August) and Raksha Bandhan has become a regional tradition — a disc-shaped honeycomb of fried maida dipped in syrup, topped with malai and pistachios. Bansal Sweets and Nirulas do proper ghevar during the season at ₹640-780/kg. The malai ghevar with the thick cream topping is the version to order.

Availability is narrow — mid-July to late August is the window, outside that you get either frozen or subpar versions. The frying technique (drizzling batter into a mould of hot ghee) is difficult and small shops often get it wrong — the honeycomb should be crisp with visible cavities, not a solid disc. Ranked eighth because it is seasonal and imported, but during Teej it is a valid Punjabi mithai experience and worth ordering fresh.

Book while you read Median night$33 Cheapest area$14 Hotels tracked4 Find a hotel

Before you book

What people ask before booking Amritsar.