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Sweets, khoya- & milk-based: burfi, milk cake, peda

What: Indian sweets are so numerous and dizzyingly varied—the colors! the shapes! the textures!—that one look at a typical counter might send a foreigner running to the nearest Baskin-Robbins. But don’t be intimidated: On this site we’ve attempted to organize India’s vast mithai (sweets) scene—at least the tip of the iceberg—by concentrating on two of its basic categories, both of them common in Delhi: sweets made with ghee and those made with milk or khoya (also spelled khoa), a semidehydrated milk product. (To further complicate things, most of the latter sweets likewise use some ghee, but it’s the milk or khoya that really defines them.) Among others in the khoya corner, there’s the lovable gulab jamun, of course, but also the square-shaped barfi (or burfi), popular and tasty; the prevalent milk cake, crumbly and, well, cake-like; and peda, a soft, doughy, delicious ball of sweetness.

Note: For more typical sweets, see also: jalebi, moong dal halwa, and rasmalai.

Where: We scored the above box o’ sweets at Anupama (2924-3311; HS-12, Kailash Colony Market, map), a friendly, local sweets-and-snacks restaurant in South Delhi. Notably, the staff behind the extensive sweets counter wore gloves, which isn’t necessarily the standard around here.

When: Daily, 8am-11pm

Order: Included in the box pictured, counterclockwise from bottom left, is milk cake, plain barfi, kesar (saffron) peda, pista (pistachio) barfi, and chaina murgi (made with chenna, like a crumbly paneer, or cottage cheese). Also pictured are a few delicious ghee-based ball-shaped ladoos. The whole box cost us 182 rupees. But we suggest you experiment at the counter—a great way to discover new favorites is to simply ask for recommendations from the staff or other shoppers.

Alternatively: Other good spots to sample a wide range of sweets are the trusty Haldiram’s (multiple branches including 1454/2, Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, map) and Bikanervala (multiple locations including A-80, Central Market, Lajpat Nagar-II, map) franchises, as well as both Bengali Sweet House and Nathu’s Sweets in Bengali Market (map).