SikarOne hour agoAuthor: Surendra Mathur
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What can we say about the sweets of the land where even sweet onions grow? We have already told about the famous flavors of the place like Laduram’s desi ghee laddu and Jawahar ji Pandya’s dahi bade. But today we will talk about the special Peda here, whose taste is different from the Peda of Chirawa and Mathura.
The special thing is that this peda was not prepared by any confectioner but by the driver. On the advice of friends, I prepared such a peda with the leftover milk that the eaters kept licking their fingers. The special thing about Nandesh Peda is that it does not spoil for a month.
So let us take you through this episode of Sikar…
This famous flavor of Sikar is about 36 years old. Nandlal Sharma, a resident of the city, earlier used to drive. There was also animal husbandry in the house, so there was no shortage of milk. Due to this, Nandlal opened his own milk dairy along with being a dairy farmer, but he was not able to sell much milk at the dairy. Once he was sitting and chatting casually with his friends. He was telling that he has done dairy farming but is not making any profit.
Friends used to call Nandlal Nandesh. In such a situation, his friends told him, Nandesh, if you have so much milk left, then make some sweets and feed him. What happened next, on the request of his friends, Nandesh turned the milk in a pan and put it on the furnace and started roasting it. In the end, when there was mawa left from the milk, Nandesh made it in the shape of pedas and fed it to his friends. In the very first trial, Nandesh prepared such pedas that whoever tasted them could not stop praising them.
Due to pressing once with the thumb, it is also called an eye peda.
When Nandlal Sharma served these pedas to the neighboring shopkeepers, they also liked them very much. From that day onwards Nandlal Sharma started making pedas. He started receiving orders on the occasion of weddings and festivals. Nandesh, who was once a driver, closed his milk dairy and rented a small shop in the street of Chiranji Panwadi in Sikar. Started selling pedas from here.
Within no time, the people of the city liked those pedas so much that their taste started becoming popular in Sikar. People in the city also started calling Nandlal as Nanda and then Nandesh. After that the shop was not identified in the name of Nandlal but in the name of Nandesh.
A staff of 15 people prepares pedas throughout the day.
Till 2005, only Nandlal and his family members used to make pedas. But due to the ever-increasing demand, he had to increase his staff. Now a team of about 15 people works to make these pedas. Since 2010, seeing the increasing demand, he also started making Dilksaar, Kaju Katli, Mishri Mawa. But even today their trees are in highest demand.
Usually about 40 to 50 kg of trees are sold every day. The shop closes at around 8 pm, but in Sikar, if there is a festive season, Ramzan or a fair of Khatu, Jeen Mata and Salasar Balaji, then the entire shelves are sold out even before the evening. During these days the cell also increases manifold. There is highest demand for Sawamani in religious fairs.
The customer told that before going to the shop, he offers ‘pedas’ to the Lord at the Ganesh temple located at Fatehpuri Gate in Sikar every day. Another customer told that whenever any small or big function takes place in his house, it seems incomplete without Nandesh Peda. Not only this, Nandesh’s relatives also take the trees to other states. People going to Gulf countries also take Nandesh trees with them.
Why are Nandesh trees special?
What makes these trees special is the milk added to them. Nandlal Sharma says that the trees of his shop do not spoil for a month. Because from the time he started the shop till today he has never compromised with the quality of these trees.
Earlier too, pedas were prepared from the milk of home-reared cows and even today the same milk is used. The special thing is that the cream is not separated from the milk. This maintains its quality. The pedas are well seasoned and there is no adulteration of any kind of grease on top.
The price of one kilo of peda is Rs 440. The cream is never separated from the milk used to make it.
Due to the natural ghee present in the milk, the pedas remain soft and do not spoil for a month. To prepare these trees, only milk, sugar, cardamom and saffron are used. Later pistachio shavings are applied on them.
This is how the eyelashes of one eye are prepared
To make pedas, first the milk is heated for about 1 hour. Meanwhile the Mawa starts making. After this sugar is added to it. After mixing it well for about 30 minutes, it is left to cool for two to three hours. After this, pedas are prepared by mixing saffron and cardamom. Pistachios are placed between them by pressing lightly with the thumb. It is called one eyed tree.
Many VIP people are crazy
Nandlal Sharma tells that CM Vasundhara Raje also liked the trees of his shop very much. Whenever former MLA Rajkumari Sharma went to meet Vasundhara Raje, she used to take pedas with her.
Make special food from organic carrots
There is also a demand for special food during winter season. The recipe of making Gajar Pak is common but to make it special they use carrots prepared from organic farming.
Only carrots grown in the fields of Santosh Pachar are procured from Jhigar Badi village of Sikar district. Santosh Pachar is a woman farmer honored by the President, who grows vegetables using 100 percent organic manure.
When Santosh Pachar went to receive the award from the then President Pranab Mukherjee, she also took with her Carrot Pak prepared at Nandesh Halwai for him.
The famous Peda of Chirawa is also known for its taste.
Chirawa trees also have special significance in Rajasthan
The famous Peda of Chirawa was first started by Lalchand Rao in 1950. The taste which was created in 1950 remains the same even today. Earlier the name of Mathura was associated with Chirawa trees, but Ek Aankh Ka Peda is famous in Mathura. The nature, suffocation, irrigation and two eyes of the water here have made the Chirawa trees very famous. There are more than 50 shops of peda makers in Chirawa. There are 5 big shops among these, where daily sales are more than 2000 kg. Whereas the average sale of small shops is 1000 kg daily. In such a situation, the daily consumption of trees in Chirawa is more than 3000 thousand kg.
Correct answer to the question asked last week
This is Shrikhand prepared by the hands of ‘Guruji’ Dinesh Joshi. Joshi earlier used to run his own school. Used to teach children also. But when the school was closed due to Corona, he started making and selling Shrikhand with amazing taste based on the recipe given by his grandmother. Gradually the Shrikhand made by him started becoming popular among the people.
Dinesh Daily prepares thousands of Shrikhand packets. Then they supply to many shops and showrooms in the city. Some big name showrooms also sell the Shrikhand made by them by putting their own brand on it. Be it a birthday celebration at home or any big event, Madhav Shrikhand made by Joshi ji is now taking the place of ice cream…(CLICK to know the complete story of Shrikhand becoming a brand)