Pran Bhallabh from Narayanganj: 73 years of sweetmeat tradition

Bangladesh is a country where every district has a sweetmeat, which delineates the idiosyncratic features and the historical progression of that district. 

Narayanganj is a district with a long history in ancient Bengal. Like every other district of the country, Narayanganj has signature sweet dishes of its own, namely curdled milk and curd from the famous confectionery of Pran Bhallabh.

Pran Bhallabh Ghosh, hailing from the village of Ajibpur in Siddhirganj Upazila of Narayanganj district, started his confectionery in Siddhirganj bazar with sweetmeats such as 'Matha' and 'Rashgolla'. Later on, he included some daily breakfast items to expand and earn more profit from his business. 

He started making curd and curdled milk, which became extremely well-known throughout the district, and his four sons expanded the business later on by creating four shops of their own.

The raw materials used to create these sweets are really farm fresh, as the milk used directly comes from different dairies, with 400 to 500 kg of milk being collected daily. Every kilogramme of sweet curd is sold for 300 takas, and every kilogramme of sour curd is sold for 250 takas. 

Other than this, many sweetmeats made using different preparations and combinations of curdled milk are being sold, where the prices are more or less within the reach of ordinary customers.

For the preparation of their signature curd, at first, the milk is boiled extensively to make sure that it is warm but not too hot. Then, an adequate amount of sugar is added and stirred until the sugar dissolves completely in the milk. After that, a little bit of curd is added to the milk, and afterwards, the pot on which the curd is being kept is covered with a heavy lid for four or five hours to quickly facilitate the creation of even more curd by fermentation of the milk. 

The Pran Ballabh confectionary's employees ensure that each procedure of curd making is followed thoroughly so that there remains no overall inconsistency.

Pran Bhallabh Confectionary is one of the thousands of sweetmeat-making places situated in each district of Bangladesh, which is not only an indispensable part of our folk culture as well as the culinary culture of rich dessert-making but also has maintained its distinct feature over time.

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