With mercury dipping, traditional sweetmeats sale picks up

Chandigarh, Jan 9 (UNI) As the plummeting mercury sends shivers down the spine, people in the northern plains seem to be finding solace in the nutritious calory-laden traditional sweetmeats like gajaks, rewaries, groundnut chikkies, til ka bhugga, panjiri and besan laddoos.

The biting cold prevailing in the region has brought brisk business for the sellers of roasted groundnut, corn, channa and murmura as well.

Heaps of groundnut, popcorn and other allied items are becoming a common sight at most of the shops and vends, even at road-side and street-corners.

Even the hep departmental stores are cashing up on the trend, more so as the major festival of Lohri and Sankranti are just round the corner.

However, unlike the roadside vendor, they are paying equal attention on the packaging of these products which are sold in attractive gota-lined wicker-baskets or colourful plastic plates and bowls and picked up as a gift item.

''The attractive packaging had made our packs of gachchaks and rewaries one of the most sought after item as a New Year gifts and we expect same for the Lohri,''said Mr Surinder Singh, of the popular ''Singh Confectionaries'' in Panchkula.

In cities a variety of gajaks, some having a mixture of dry fruits, are touching the price of Rs 200 per kg while the usual jaggery-til (sesame) or jaggery-groundnut gajak ranges between Rs 80 to Rs 150, depending upon the quality.

The groundnut is being sold between Rs 40 to Rs 45 per kg while popcorns fetch anything between Rs 30 and Rs 40 per kg.

In towns like Phagwara, the gachak rates vary between Rs 50 to Rs 60 per kg while Rs 45 to 50 is the rate of rewri.

Most of the customers prefer fried groundnut, the raw groundnut also has some takers in view of its economical rates, ranging between Rs 20-25 per kg, Mr Jagjit Arora, a trader in Phagwara said.

Shankar Dass Dhir, a leading local dealer in Phagwara said even in towns, nowadays, the customers are putting more stress upon the quality of the sweetmeats rather than the rates.

''Earlier, most of the customers used to give consideration to rates than looking for quality but this time, the trend has changed, specially with the younger generation,'' he said.

According to Dr Prem Chand, in winters the body needs extra nutrients to beat the cold and these traditional sweetmeats are a good source of protein, carbohydrates and calories.

Dr C M Ghai, a noted ayurvedic practitioner at Mohali government dispensary, also said children should be encouraged to have these sweetmeats rather than the cakes and pastries usually devoured by today's generation.

However, he said the jaggery gajaks are much better than the sugar ones for health.

UNI