After Diwali, most homes are left with a table full of sweet boxes, homemade tins and gifts from neighbours. Some of those sweets will happily keep until the end of November. Others should have been eaten or refrigerated two days ago. The difference comes down to what they are made of, and in particular how much moisture and milk they contain.
The basic rule
The drier the sweet and the more it relies on ghee, sugar and roasted flour, the longer it keeps. The more fresh milk, khoya, chhena or fresh coconut it contains, the more perishable it is.
Long-keeping sweets: 2 to 4 weeks at room temperature
Examples: besan ladoo, atta ladoo and pinni, dry fruit ladoo, Mysore pak, nankhatai, shakarpara, mathri, namak para, balushahi.
Why: low moisture, and plenty of ghee and sugar, which do not support microbial growth.
How to store: airtight steel or glass tins, in a cool, dry place. Keep crisp snacks separate from soft sweets so they do not soften.
See besan ladoo, atta ladoo and pinni and shakarpara.
Medium-keeping sweets: about a week
Examples: kaju katli and other cashew or almond barfis, desiccated coconut ladoo, motichoor and boondi ladoo, soan papdi.
How to store: airtight, at cool room temperature for a few days, or refrigerated for up to about two weeks. Bring to room temperature before eating for the best texture.
Short-keeping sweets: 2 to 5 days, refrigerated
Examples: khoya or mawa barfi, peda, kalakand, milk cake, gajar halwa, moong dal halwa, fresh coconut ladoo, kheer.
Why: milk solids and moisture spoil quickly.
How to store: refrigerate in covered containers. Do not leave them out on a warm day for more than a couple of hours.
Very short-keeping sweets: 1 to 3 days, refrigerated
Examples: rasgulla, rasmalai, sandesh, chhena sweets, anything with fresh cream or malai.
How to store: refrigerate promptly and eat soon.
Syrup sweets
Examples: gulab jamun, jalebi, imarti.
Gulab jamun in syrup keeps for several days in the fridge. Jalebis are best eaten the day they are made; they soften within hours.
Reviving sweets
- Halwa: warm in a pan with a spoon of ghee and a splash of milk until soft and glossy again.
- Soft shakarpara or mathri: a few minutes in a dry pan or a warm oven brings back crispness.
- Hard ladoos: a short warm-up in the microwave softens them.
- Gulab jamun: warm briefly in their syrup.
When to throw sweets out
- Any sour, fermented or unusual smell.
- Visible mould, sliminess or discolouration.
- Milk sweets left out overnight at room temperature.
- A rancid taste in ghee-rich sweets, which happens when they are kept too long or in heat.
When in doubt, throw it out. It is not worth an upset stomach after a lovely festival.
For bought sweets
Check the date on the box, and remember that sweets shops pack for sale, not for storage. Milk sweets from a shop should go into the fridge on the day you receive them.
A note on the ghee jar itself
After the festival, check your ghee too. A jar that has been opened many times during the week with spoons that touched other food, or left near the stove, may need attention. See how to tell if ghee has gone bad.
If you are running low after the festival, Desi Cow A2 Ghee ships free across India.