Jugal's, Park Circus, Kolkata

I like to finish every meal with something sweet. Usually just a bite or two, not much.

Right next to Arsalan is a sweet shop. I walked in without knowing what it was called. I found out later that it's a fairly well-known place with multiple outlets: Jugal's.

The exterior of Jugal's sweet shop in Park Circus, Kolkata, with its large red cursive signboard lit up at night

The Baked Chom Chom

There was one person at the counter who spoke very little Hindi. I looked at the sweets and found something that appeared very creamy. It looked like cham cham, but it had been baked.

I know cham cham well. It's a Bengali sweet popular in Delhi too, and particularly famous from Iglas, a town in Aligarh district, which is my parents' hometown. My naanu (my mother's father) used to own a famous sweet shop in Aligarh. I got my first taste of cham cham from there.

The person at the counter corrected me: it wasn't cham cham. It was baked chom chom.

Baked chom chom at Jugal's counter, in a foil tray with a wooden spoon, the surface golden-brown from baking

I took a piece, pierced through it, and a creamy filling came out.

I took a bite into it, and I'm not exaggerating: it was the best Indian sweet I have ever had.

A hand holding a baked chom chom from Jugal's, pierced open with the cream filling visible inside

I usually stop at a bite or two of a sweet after a meal. I asked the man for another piece.

The Mishti Doi

When I thought I was done, I noticed some people nearby eating mishti doi. Naturally I had to order a small portion.

A hand holding a small clay kulhad of Jugal's mishti doi with a wooden spoon, more kulhads visible in the display case behind

It came in a small kulhad of an unusual shape. It was really good.

I came back to Jugal's almost every day during that trip to Kolkata, usually after the biryani next door. If you are at Arsalan, you have no excuse not to walk ten steps and try the baked chom chom.

Part of the Kolkata food guide.