Halwai cuts and decorates besan barfi with silver leaf, in Meerut

From the archive record

Freshly prepared besan barfi is spread across a large shallow metal tray at a sweet-making setup in Meerut. The pale yellow mixture is made from roasted besan (gram flour), ghee, sugar syrup, and milk solids, giving the sweet its dense texture and smooth surface. A halwai is using a long metal tool to score straight lines across the tray so the barfi can later be separated into uniform square or rectangular pieces. Thin edible silver leaf, commonly known as varak, is being applied across the surface as a decorative coating used in traditional Indian confectionery. Large tray preparation and manual cutting methods are commonly used in mithai production for festivals, weddings, and daily sweet shop sales. The footage shows the finishing stage of traditional barfi preparation before packaging