I am generally not a huge fan of Indian sweets. They’re mostly fudgy lard-milk squares as seen below. You might be saying to yourself that fudgy lard-milk squares sound kind of good. Sometimes they are. Every now and then one square tastes fresh and rich and delicious. More often, the old lard has taken on a  flavor that is both mildly putrid and somehow crayon-like.

A typical assortment of lardy sweets in a Solan window

Pastries are slightly less lardy but lardy all the same

Dough fried in hot lard — would be at home at any American county fair

Orange lard-fried squiggles

The pastries are a different story. They do amazing things with pistachio nuts, cumin, sugar, salt, flour, and of course lard. The “Jeera Biscuits” — sort of like a delicate shortbread cookie with a sprinkling of cumin seeds, sugar, and salt — are phenomenally good. Every time I’m in Solan I buy a case for 50¢ to last the week.

Many of the others are tasteless, however. They do terrible things with chocolate here. Or, I should say, the chocolate itself is terrible. I have yet to sample anything chocolate that doesn’t taste like newspaper sprinkled with Nestle Quik powder.

Despite my negative review, I will be happy to play beefeater with the sweets pictured above, or any others, in order to satisfy readers’ curiosities. If you would like a detailed description of the experience of eating any of the above, post a comment or send an email, making specific reference to its placement in the pictures.