Ghantewala is one of Chandni Chowk’s greatest landmarks- a sweetshop like no other. They make all their sweets in pure ghee, a sure sign (at least by Indian culinary standards!) that it’s good. The range of sweets is splendid- and you can either eat them there or have some packed. If you like syrupy sweets, try their gorgeous jalebis- squiggly fried whorls of batter which are soaked in syrup and served hot. Luscious! Also for those with a sweet tooth: check out their barfis, gulabjamuns, kalakand and their specialty, the high-calorie, packed-with-sugar-and-nuts sohan-halwa. Prices range between Rs 110-150 per kilo for the more common sweets, to Rs 240 a kilo for the sohan-halwa.
The icing on the cake (or the sohan-halwa?!) is the history behind Ghantewala. The shop’s been around since Mughal times, and how it got its name (`Ghantewala’ means `The Bell-wallah’) is a really quaint story. The more popular version is that the favourite elephant of one of the Mughal emperors developed such a fondness for the sweets of this particular sweetshop that it would come to a stop in front of the shop, and ring the bell around its neck till it was fed sweets. The more prosaic explanation lies in the fact that Ghantewala was once the purveyor to the Mughal court. Everyday, a load of sweets were sent for the court’s consumption, but if some were not consumed, they’d be sent back to the shop- which would then ring a bell to announce to the public that sweets fit for royalty were available for sale.
Whether you believe those stories or not, do sample their sweets.