The desire to taste a childhood favourite, khand ke khidaune or edible sugar toys, took me last week to a stretch close to the Golden Temple gates in the walled city of Amritsar. I stopped to ask an elderly man about Mishri Bazaar. The moment I mentioned khand ke khidaune to the gentleman, his face lit up. “You have asked me about a true delicacy which was an all-time favourite not only in my childhood but even now when I’m in my late seventies. Its every bite instantly begins to melt and sends one on a delicious journey. Wish I was savouring the same with my tea now,” he wondered.
He told me I was only a few steps away from the bustling street where on arrival, my eyes began to soak in the vibrant colours of the sugar toys besides several other traditional foods outside some old-fashioned shops.
More commonly known as khand de khidaune as locals call them in Punjabi, they come in various designs — chiefly birds and animals to make them enthralling, especially for children.
Interestingly, these treats are also considered holy as many use them for Deepavali puja to worship Goddess Lakshmi.
Weighing between 40 and 60 grams per piece, they are currently priced at Rs 60-70 per kg. As I met 73-year-old Gurbachan Singh, who incidentally made them for several decades in the backyard of the same shop where I stood, he termed making them easy and quick.
“All you need is sugar, water and edible colours of your choice. First sugar and water are boiled to turn them into a not so liquid syrup, followed by the addition of colour. While the mixture is still hot, it is transferred into small wooden moulds which are carved into various designs. Within minutes, the sugar syrup takes the shape of the mould and is then sun-dried before they are offered as these irresistible mouthwatering toys.”
But as I walked into the shop of Bhupinder Singh (50), whose family has been manufacturing them for many decades now, he echoed what many had told me about the current status of this traditional dessert. “Thankfully, we are still manufacturing them but most families in the city gave up the business due to paucity of labour and sky-rocketing sugar prices. A drop in their demand is another reason that people are going away from old things. I remember there were days when we would get advance orders, nearly two-three months before Deepavali but now most customers come just days before Deepavali, mostly hailing from rural pockets. However, local tourism board and other government bodies can always play their role to promote the age-old dessert.”
According to Prof Harish Sharma, who retired as the head of the history department at Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University, these sugar toys have been popular even before the British arrived. “They date back to Maharaja Ranjeet Singh’s era, as they were quite popular in both Amritsar and Lahore, and later gained popularity almost everywhere, be it UP or Rajasthan but in Amritsar or even in Lahore, these taste different. There was also a time when they were made in villages and remained a cynosure at village fairs but not anymore.”
Sukhdev Singh Sohal, another retired history professor from the same university adds that even the British officers looked forward to savouring them once these were laid out on their quintessential afternoon tea tables.
“Once, not everyone could easily afford them. After all, they were priced exorbitantly and hence a luxury but they soon became every common man’s delight.”
Eventually, I tasted one colourful piece that was in the shape of a pigeon. Though I had tried it often in my childhood, it was like I was reliving my younger days and once I closed my eyes after the first bite I imagined myself in some French bakery, somewhere on Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris simply because it tasted so good!