Panwaaris are such a staple of Delhi life. Located in every market, down every lane and around every corner, they are an important part of every neighbourhood. Long before we knew any paan chewers or cigarette smokers, we remember heading to them for candy. Chewy, crunchy, flavourful candy.
Here are five candies we just could not get enough of.
One of the few mango-flavoured sweets to not be khatta or sour, Mango Bite prefers to stay sweet. The timeless packaging, with a primarily yellow body and green twist at the top, is a very visual reminder of the fruit flavour you’re about to ingest. If you have a sweet tooth, and are sick of the sour stuff, then this is your guy.
Parle also has a khatta Mango Bite rendition.
Our favourite classic ‘candy’ has to be Fatafat, the digestive, chewy, delicious treat. The small round pellets, crunchy on outside, soft and khatta on the inside, are a must-buy at every visit to the panwaari. The classic packets were worth INR 5, but the introduction of the INR 10 packets has changed our lives.
To give you an indication of their popularity—we regularly found them in tuck shops on the streets of Indian neighbourhoods in Queens, New York.
The latest candy to hit the shelves of panwaaris everywhere is Pulse, by Pass Pass. This hard candy has won over our hearts. The hard, crunchy outside is supplemented by a hard to place, delicious to taste, khatta amchoor like powder. The two types–Mango and Guava–are surprisingly true in flavour to the fruit they claim to mime.
We prefer the mango, but the {even newer} guava is pretty good too.
The Hajmola hard candy is another oldie, but goldie, in the panwaari’s repertoire. Completely different to the tablets, the Imli and Mango hard candies have been causing a party in our mouths for years. While not our first choice when receiving candy in place of change, we never complain when these purple or green sweets are placed in our hands.
When we were younger we were always fascinated by paan. The way it was prepared, the smell, the juice stains on the street.. Suffice to say, we were a little iffy about trying it. So, when Pan Pasand was introduced, we immediately jumped on board. The sweet flavours of paan without all the mess; what was not to like as a young eight year old trying to find their place in the candy kingdom?