'Try our malpua and rabri'

Ask anyone familiar with Connaught Place, where Malik Sweet House is and they will show you the way with a broad smile, almost like they are enjoying a sweet secret! Situated in the heart of the city, MSH stands firm and strong since 1947.

Name any sweetmeat and it is definitely on offer. One of the oldest sweet shops of the City makes the best malpua and rabri in town. Metrolife took time out to visit the well-known shop and caught up with its present owner Prakash Rajpal, who handles the business, after his uncle KK Malik retired some three years back.

The list of the visitors to the shop is long and illustrious and counts amongst its customers the likes of Late Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. Add to that names like Rahul Gandhi, Raj Babbar, Khushwant Singh, DLF owner K P Singh and they have all been here as regulars. “They have all been buying sweets from our shop.  In fact, Khushwantji (at 98) is still fond of our malpua,” smiles Prakash.

Malpua is a special sweet with its origins in Punjab. Made from a dough containing kaju, pista, khoya mixed with paneer and daal, the malpua here is rolled out as a small pancake, deep fried before being dipped in sugary syrup. Together these five smashed ingredients form this delicacy and clearly is a top favourite amongst all the sweets in the shop.

Malik Sweets also has seasonal specialities. While in summer, it is all about daal ka halwa, in winter, it is gajar ka halwa which finds maximum takers. “But we are actually famous for our malpua and rabri,” states Prakash. At the shop, however, one finds a variety of laddus – including besan ke laddu, motichur ke laddu, malai ke laddu and atte ke laddu.

Bengali sweets such as rasgullas, raj bhog and gulab jamuns are also kept to satisfy all the customers. “Our clientele is usually the office crowd from Connaught Place and surrounding areas like Parliament Street. Kisika birthday ho, ya kisika promotion ho, ya fir retirement ho, sabh yehi se mithai lete hain,” says Prakash. “We earn about Rs 15-20,000 on an average per day.”

The sweet shop also has a chaat corner that offers delicious dahi bhalle, gol gappe and papri chaat. The salty snacks include samosas, paneer pakodas and dhoklas.
Prakash seems to be very contented with the one outlet that he owns. “We are the oldest sweet shop of the area and we have a first class outlet here. We have no plans of opening another branch.”

“We had opened the sweet shop as a small stall,” remembers Prakash. “My uncle looked after the shop till he turned 85. Unki mehnat ka fal kha rahe hain hum.”