petha

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 Calcium Hydroxide, locally known as Choona or Soon. After removing the gourd pieces from the Choona solution, they're boiled until soft, and then soaked in sugar syrup. The final candy has a sugar-crisp exterior and an almost moist, sticky interior with a firm, crunchy, and almost 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.{{Cite web|title=Petha Recipe {{!}} How to Make Petha {{!}} Agra Ka Petha|url=https://food.ndtv.com/recipe-petha-218806|access-date=2020-10-28|website=NDTV Food}}

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 essence is used to flavour petha.[http://www.ammas.com/ar/home.cfm?r=spices&total=133&spid=1&C=All Ammas cooking]

{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526220809/http://www.ammas.com/ar/home.cfm?r=spices&total=133&spid=1&C=All |date=2013-05-26 }}{{Cite web|date=2018-02-02|title=Food Secrets: The Sweet Stories Behind The Legendary Agra Petha and Mysore Pak|url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/129745/food-history-indian-sweets-mysore-pak-agra-petha/|access-date=2020-10-28|website=The Better India|language=en-US}}

Petha is said to have been in the subcontinent under 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, but it's highly unlikely considering that there is no mention of Petha in cookbooks of Shah Jahan like Nuskha-e-Shahjahani. There are mentions of dishes resembling Petha before the Mughals came to the subcontinent. Petha is also not like typical Mughal sweets and dishes which were rich in milk and mawa.{{cite news|title=Food Safari: in search of Agra Petha |url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/food-safari-in-search-of-agra-petha/article3500491.ece |first=Swati |last=Daftuar |date=9 June 2012 |work=The Hindu |accessdate=30 June 2015}}{{cite news|title=Petha industry not harming Taj: Kalraj |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/Petha-industry-not-harming-Taj-Kalraj/articleshow/41368950.cms |first=Ishita |last=Mishra |date=31 August 2014|work=Times of India |location=Agra |accessdate=29 June 2015}}

In Agra, countless tiny businesses produce different varieties of the treat for visitors who come to view the Taj Mahal 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.

File:冬瓜糖.jpg

• Peda
• Mathura peda
• Dōngguā táng or Rock sugar Winter Melon candy

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Category:Agra

Category:Economy of Agra

Category:Uttar Pradeshi cuisine

Category:Indian confectionery