In Bengal's Bankura, Why This Shop's Peda Is Famous

The Bankura’s Chhatna village, West Bengal, is in the headlines for the delicious peda (Indian sweet) sold here. According to Local 18 Bengal, actor Bhanu Bannerjee loved the peda sold here in a shop. Bhanu was shooting for the film Ashite Ashiona directed by Sree Jayadratha at the Shushunia Pahar in the Bankura district, West Bengal.

He happened to try a peda being sold in one of the shops located near the Chhatna Police Station. The Ashite Ashiona actor loved the peda so much that he purchased them for his home as well. It is 2024 now and the peda in the Chhatna village is still popular amongst the natives.

How did the peda originate in the Chhatna village and become one of the most sought-after delicacies here? Swaraj Mitra, the field surveyor of the village, said that the fame of this sweet extended from the Chhatna village to the Rajbari, West Bengal. Mitra further added that the popularity of this sweet reached its peak during the regime of Rani Ananda Kumar. It continued to flourish till the time of King Triguna Prasad Singh Deo.

As per Mitra, the identity of peda in the Chhatna village was created by a person named Adi Prahlad Chandra Moira. Adi used to make rice in the rice shop at home. The shop selling the peda still exists there today but its architecture has changed.

There is no clarification about who made this sweet first. Despite the unfamiliarity of the sweet’s whereabouts, the fame of the sweet in Chhatna village has spread immensely. Mukul Mukhopadhyay, the owner of the peda-making shop in this village described the process of sweet making. According to Mukul, the outside layer of the peda is prepared by boiling the milk, and then converting it into kheer.

Now, 100 grams of sugar is mixed in every 1 kg of milk. Then the mixture is made into a mould on which Chhatna peda is written, and different sizes of the sweet are made. The price of the smallest peda is 5 taka, the medium size is Rs 10 and the price of the largest one is Rs 20. This shop has made up to a thousand pieces of peda per day.