The typical art of batasha making was very much an Indian innovation and was made popular during the same time when sugar was one of the profitable exports on the Silk and Spice Route. Traders and sugarcane farmers employed the original Bharbhunjas (Hindu caste found in North) to turn the sweet sugarcane juices into white gold.
This desi candy played a significant role in the meeting of Jehangir and Noor Jehan. According to popular folklore, when Jahangir met his future Noor Jehan (Mehr-un-Nissa) at the Meena Bazaar, a makeshift market in Mughal times as part of the annual Navroz celebrations, she had her mouth stuffed with dainty meringue-like batashas.
For the nine days during Navratri, batashas are dipped in ghee and offered to deities to ensure prosperity. Kheel batasha, a common Diwali tradition that signifies the spirit of belonging and sharing, is freshly prepared from the first batch of rice and offered to goddess Lakshmi.
In West Bengal, the quintessential batasha is a regular puja item in every household. The colourful batashe ki mala is pretty popular in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Chhattisgarh. It is said that the batasha mala sweetens the bond between families. In Maharashtra, battashacha har along with neem leaves are hooked up at the upper end of the kalash on Gudi Padva. This Gudi is raised at the time of sunrise and taken down before the sunset.
Drinking batashas soaked in water in the hot summer months are known for its soothing properties. In Bengal, kodma batasha, another unique variant of this sweet confection is particularly used as offerings on Poila Baisakh (Bengali New Year). These sugar candies are available in interesting shapes like swans, parrots, hens, horses, temples and many more, in pinks, whites and yellows.
The process of making batasha is pretty straightforward but ask the manufacturers and they’ll tell you how much of a backbreaking task it is doing in large batches. The ratio is 1 ½ kilogram of sugar and 200 grams of Palm jaggery to 1 litre of water put together in a huge aluminum container on high flame.
The mixture has to be stirred continuously as it boils, and the water gradually evaporates. When the mixture has thickened considerably almost to a caramel like consistency, the pot is taken off the furnace and sodium bicarbonate is added to the mix. Stirred with a bamboo ladle as the syrup starts crystallizing due to the addition of an alkalizing agent, this process traps the air inside the syrup. At this stage, droplets of the mixture are released onto a mat and left to cool down to form beloved Batasha.