The Story Of Ledikeni: From A British Aristocrat’s Fondness To A Famous Confection Maker

An unusual sounding mishti that somehow sounds Bengali, but feels wrong when pronounced; that is because it is actually a colloquial name. It’s charm lies in the mispronounciation that continues to keep it popular, despite its colonial ties. Ledikeni or Lady Kenny is a close relative of the gulab jamun and pantua and is a beautiful shade of reddish-brown that is soaked in sweet sugar-syrup. This beloved delicacy in Kolkata, is named after a British aristocrat, the intriguing Viscountess Lady Charlotte Stuart. While we didn’t include the khoya sweets recipe, you should try making the Ledikeni if you want.

What is the Ledikeni?

Ledikeni is a lot similar to North India's gulab jamun and is prepared from the trademark chenna, which a lot of Bengal sweets are made of, fried until golden brown and then soaked in

sugar syrup, ready to put up in glass shelves of sweetshops, to be sold. Unlike pantua that is often dark brown or gulab jamun which is round, ledikeni is longish, like a fat finger, that closely resembles the sweet Lyangcha. But unlike Lyangcha, Ledikeni has a trademark reddish-brown color and the sugar syrup is what makes it different from its cousins.

The chenna is combined with wheat flour and deep fried in ghee or oil and this is unlike gulab jamun and uses “khoya” or reduced milk to make up its dough that is shaped into balls then fried. Ledikeni gets shaped into small cylindrical shapes then deep fried and kept in big vessels filled with sugar syrup. If you pass by sweet shops early in the morning, you will catch a whiff of the friend dough and an almost nauseating smell of the sugar syrup being boiled on stoves for the sweets that will be soaked in them.

The Tale Behind the Mishti

Historians have taken note of Charlotte Stuart or Lady Canning, who was married to Lord Charles Canning, the first Viceroy and the last Governor-General of India. But unlike most Victorian wifes who hosted tea parties and hid behind brocade hand fans, Lady Canning would accompany her husband to work. She took active interest in war and politics as revealed by her letters and it was no wonder the locals noticed her presence.

As stories for most sweets go, there are two versions that explains the origin of the Ledikeni– One version states that it was supposedly made upon her request for her birthday in 1858 and the other version says it was made by a local sweetmeat maker to welcome her to Bengal in 1856. Whichever version you choose to believe, the tales lead to Bhim Chandra Nag, whose name is also synonymous to sandesh. But it was Ledikeni that propelled him posthumous fame in Bengal and beyond and he makes it feel like it would be under the section of quick sweet recipes.

Just like Lord Curzon’s visit that spurred the invention of Sitabhog and Mihidana in West Bengal’s Bardhaman, Ledikeni’s tale is also similar and wooed two prominent colonizers into loving the sweets of Bengal. She loved the sweet so much, that like Lord Curzon, she demanded that the sweet be prepared whenever she was hosting parties or entertaining guests.

Lady Canning was what this sweet created by Nag was called initially, but as time passed it watered down to Lady Kenny then finally settled into the mispronounced, yet fond nickname of Ledikeni. Given her influence in Bengal that had a sweetmaker honor her with an original sweet. She died in 1861 and her grave still exists in Kolkata, which has been converted into a memorial and today can be found adjacent to St. John's Church in Kolkata. Perhaps it was the mispronunciation of the name, that subtly that sticks even today, that continues to make keep the sweet as popular as it today since the day it was made.

It’s a few lanes away from the venerable shop of Bhim Chandra Nag, that was established in Bowbazar standing even today, run by the 6th generation of his family. It is located at Nirmal Chandra Street that was earlier known as the Wellington Street. The shop was set up by Bhim Chandra Nag’s father Paran Chandra Nag in 1826. The shop is famed for the Ledikeni and Cooke and Kelvey clock, which was gifted by clock-maker Thomas Cooke to Bhim Nag as a present to his busy shop. It was specially made for this sweet shop by Cooke and upon request, the clock’s dial was converted into the local language so the workers could read the time. This clock is still functional and hangs in the shop as a reminder of the friendship between an English clockmaker and Bengali sweetmeat maker.