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I had written about this ambrosia earlier – but the time has come to mention this delicious sweet once again, mainly because I have just discovered a couple of new sweet shops where Daulat ki chaat is sold in winter. Till recently, this was something that you got to eat only if you had led a blameless life. The few men who sold Daulat ki chaat were never to be found in one place; they moved from one gali of Chandni Chowk to another, with their khomcha, or basket, on the head. They walked in the shadeto avoid the sun, for the sweet had to be safeguarded from sunlight.

But the other day, while cutting through Gali Arya Samaj behind Asaf Ali Road – the lane behind Hamdard building – I found Hari Shankar Yogesh Garg’s sweet shop. It was a small shop, with a big sign that said Daulat ki chaat. So, of course, I had to stop there. The shop is at the end of the lane, almost near Sitaram Bazaar. When we were growing up, there was an element of romance around the sweet prepared with a whiffed foam of milk.

We were told that the sweet was made only on moonlit nights. Those days, the halwais used to churn a huge cauldron of milk with their hands, and then separate the foam from the milk. They could only do it at night, for it needed a low temperature. Now, of course, there are time-saving appliances for this method, and ice to cool the foam. The sweet is certainly something out of the ordinary. The foamy clouds adorn a huge platter. The halwai scoop out a bit and puts it in a dona. On this he adds powdered sugar – called karara – and then lightly mixes the two.

Then he adds some grated white khoyaand some roasted khoya. A bit of screw pine water (kewra) goes on top, along with a thin layer of saffron-infused foam, and finally some slivers of pistachio. The net result is a wonderful concoction. I took three boxes of this – for Rs.150.

If anything is melt-in-the-mouth, it is this. The moment you put a spoonful in your mouth, it disappears like the Government’s promises. This is why the sweet is known as Daulat ki chaat – it’s as good as the riches, but comes and goes like wealth. There are not too many people in Delhi who have eaten Daulat ki chaat, and I find that the younger generation knows little about it. I fed a lot of youngsters, and they were truly tongue-tied.

One, because they were too busy eating and had no time to speak, and two, because they really didn’t have words to express how good it tastes. All that I can say is it’s Delicious, with a capital D. So this New Year, while you are looking out for pastries and the like, do have an encounter with Daulat ki chaat. The New Year marks a new beginning, and Daulat ki chaat, I promise, will give a new meaning to your life.

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