You now have a sweet reason to visit Santiniketan

Moglai Parota from Anadi. Kobiraji Cutlet from Basanta Cabin. Lyangcha from Sree Hari Mistanna Bhandar. Any Kolkatan will know instantly what we are talking about. And outside the city in the rest of Bengal, there are similar affiliations between, say, Shaktigarh and lyangcha, Bardhaman and mihidana, and Keventer's (Darjeeling) and hot chocolate. In time-honoured tradition, these signature dishes have made their creators famous, and become tourist attractions in themselves. 

Taking this tradition forward, the West Bengal Tourism Department has now decided to promote signature dishes from all its properties, beginning with Shantobitan Tourism Property (earlier known as Santiniketan Tourist Lodge), whose Caramel Custard has, over the years, earned fame and popularity owing to its creamy, sweet perfection. 

A portion of the Caramel Custard

As most of you will know, Caramel Custard is a custard dessert made of milk, eggs, and sugar, with a thin layer of caramelized (slightly burnt) sugar on top. In India, the dish is thought to have been introduced by the Portuguese, and to this day, it continues to be extremely popular in former Portuguese colonies like Goa, Daman and Diu. It is also a regular in many Anglo-Indian, Malayali, Mangalorean and Parsi kitchens.

While Bengalis may not cook it regularly, they certainly love eating Caramel Custard, and very few places make a better one than Shantobitan. They have even shared their recipe, though our suggestion would be for you to first eat the custard they make before trying it at home. That said, here's the recipe:

Caramel Custard (one portion)

 Ingredients