The love for traditional mishtis was evident ahead of Bhai Phonta/Bhai Duj celebrations with brothers and sisters queueing up outside sweet shops in advance on Tuesday.
Some of the prominent sweet shops struggled to meet the demand as customers swamped stores from afternoon.
“Most of our customers are showing a preference for traditional items,” said Partha Nandy, of Girish Chandra Dey and Nakur Chandra Nandy.
“The queues outside are reminding us of the pre-pandemic days, when sweet lovers would not mind waiting to buy the mishti of their choice ahead of celebrations.”
The crowds outside some of the prominent shops swelled by the evening.
“The traditional sandesh is most in demand. Some young buyers want to try out our new offerings such as daab sandesh and gondhoraaj sandesh,” said Dhiman Das of KC Das Private Limited.
To celebrate the tradition of serving sweets on a platter, Balaram Mullick and Radharaman Mullick introduced a package of mishti served on a brass thaali.
“The thaali has almost every item that goes with the ritual of Bhai Phonta, including sandalwood powder and grains of rice on brass bowls along with mishti,” said Sudip Mullick, owner of the chain.
Several shop owners said the sweets have been manufactured in a way that they retain the freshness over a day and even beyond. Others said they have developed
special packs to retain the freshness of mishti for several days.