Agra Petha

Agra Petha

Petha is the reason Agra has a food reputation independent of the Taj. It is a translucent soft candy made from ash gourd — white pumpkin, benincasa hispida — peeled, hollowed, pricked, boiled and simmered in sugar syrup until the flesh turns glassy and takes the sweetness all the way through. Good petha is cool, faintly chewy, and dissolves rather than crumbles.

The varieties

There are thirty to fifty variants sold in Agra, and it is worth trying more than the plain one:

• Angoori petha — the famous one. Grape-sized pieces floating in syrup rather than dry squares. Juicier, sweeter, and the version most people mean.
• Kesar (saffron) petha — golden, aromatic, the premium grade.
• Paan petha — betel-leaf flavoured, green, slightly astringent.
• Dry fruit, coconut, chocolate, mango, rose — the modern extensions. Chocolate is a tourist novelty; dry fruit and coconut are genuinely good.
• Plain dry petha — the original form, firmer, keeps longest.

Where to buy it

The name Panchhi Petha is used by many shops and the founding dates they claim contradict each other (1857, 1926 and 1950 all appear). The one locals point to as the original is at Hari Parwat / Noori Gate, and there are branches in Sadar Bazaar. Deviram Sweets in Rakabganj and near Jama Masjid is the other old name. Munna Lal Agarwal Petha Wale at Rawatpara and Gopal Das Pethe Wale are the two that guides who live here recommend over the famous brands. Bhagat Halwai on Motilal Nehru Nagar Marg and Bhimsain Deeksha Petha in Sadar Bazaar are also established.

Prices run about ₹100–500 a kilo at ordinary shops and ₹300–800 at the premium names. Most shops will let you taste before buying — ask; it is normal, not rude.

Buying it to take home

Petha travels well if you get the right kind. Dry petha keeps longer than angoori, which sits in syrup and can ferment in heat. Ask for a sealed box, not a loose paper wrap, and avoid buying it on the last day of a May trip. Traditional wooden or metal petha boxes are sold in Kinari Bazaar and make a better gift than the plastic ones.

Avoid the unmarked shops right around the Taj gates. Quality varies and prices are higher; the established names are all a short auto ride away.

The legend

The story told in every shop is that Shah Jahan asked his royal kitchens for a sweet as pure and white as the Taj Mahal, and petha was the answer. It is a nice story and it is almost certainly not true — ash-gourd sweets appear across north India well before the Taj — but it tells you something real about how the city thinks of the two things together.