India GOSweets of Ajmer and where to buy them
Ajmer's own sweet is sohan halwa: a dense halwa cooked for hours in a copper pan and sold by weight from the shops around the dargah. It keeps for weeks, which is why it is the sweet pilgrims carry home. The rest of the city's sweet side is milk and ghee: thick lassi in clay cups, rabri, the churma that comes with dal baati, and the sweet rice cooked in the shrine's two great cauldrons.
The sweets to know
Sohan halwa is the one sweet Ajmer is known for; the others are what the old city eats and drinks around it.
Sohan halwa
Cooked for hours in a copper pan, cut into discs and sold by weight. The Ajmer shops describe their version as ghee, wheat, sugar and dry fruit with no mawa (thickened milk), which is why it stays dense and buttery and keeps for weeks. It comes plain or with kesar (saffron). The name goes back to the Sanskrit shobhan, 'beautiful'; recipes elsewhere in the subcontinent use milk and cornflour.
Malai lassi
Lassi so thick it comes with a spoon, topped with malai (clotted cream), rabri and a pinch of saffron, served in a single-use clay kulhad (cup). In the old city it is the standard way to cool down after the dargah.
Rabri
Milk boiled down over a low flame for a long time until it turns dense and pale. Eaten chilled on its own, and spooned over lassi in the old city.
Churma
The sweet part of dal baati churma: wheat or millet crushed and mixed with ghee and sugar or jaggery, eaten with the dal and baati of a Rajasthani meal.
Sweet rice from the degs
Two huge cauldrons stand in the dargah courtyard. According to the Dargah Committee, Akbar gave one big enough to cook for 5,000 people and Jahangir one for 2,500; the present degs are 19th-century replacements holding up to about 4,480 kg of rice. The sweet rice cooked in them, with ghee, nuts and raisins, is shared out to pilgrims. Devotees sponsor the cooking of a deg, and the Dargah Committee takes deg bookings on its own website.
Where to buy
Moolchand Buddhamal Halwai, Purani Mandi. Described as Ajmer's oldest sweet house, it has made sohan halwa since 1870, over five generations, and is the name usually given for the original. It sits in Purani Mandi, the cloth end of the old market a few lanes from the dargah.
Aamir Sweet Corner, Dargah Bazaar. The sweet shop right at the shrine gate, for sohan halwa on the way out: kesar and plain, boxed fresh.
Anant Jain Lassi, Dargah Bazaar. The lassi counter in the lanes by the dargah, with malai, rabri and saffron on top, served in clay kulhads.
Desi Chulha Rabri Wala, Vaishali Nagar. A village-style Rajasthani restaurant, for churma with dal baati and a cooling shrikhand (strained sweet yogurt); Jain dishes on request.
The bazaar outside the dargah also sells sweets as offerings, along with chadars (cloth coverings for the tomb), incense and rose petals.
Before you buy
- Sohan halwa is sold by weight: ask the price per kilo and how much a box holds.
- For the journey home, buy it boxed. It keeps for weeks; rabri and lassi do not travel.
- Lassi and rabri are for eating on the spot; the clay kulhad is used once and thrown away.
- Moolchand Buddhamal and Aamir Sweet Corner are vegetarian and Jain-friendly.
- To try Ajmer's savoury classics as well, see what to eat in Ajmer.
FAQ
Which sweet is famous in Ajmer?
Sohan halwa: a dense halwa of ghee, wheat, sugar and dry fruit, cooked for hours in a copper pan and sold by weight from the shops around the dargah.
Which is the most famous sweet shop in Ajmer?
Moolchand Buddhamal Halwai in Purani Mandi, making sohan halwa since 1870. For a box on the way out of the shrine, Aamir Sweet Corner stands at the dargah gate.
How long does Ajmer sohan halwa keep?
For weeks. The Ajmer version is made without mawa or milk, so it travels well and is the usual edible souvenir.
What are the most famous foods in Ajmer?
Besides sohan halwa: kadhi kachori, a fried kachori broken into hot gram-flour kadhi, and dal baati churma. Malai lassi and rabri are the sweet drinks and desserts of the old city.
What is the sweet food cooked in the dargah's degs?
Sweet rice with ghee, nuts and raisins, cooked in two giant cauldrons in the courtyard and shared out to pilgrims. A deg is cooked as a sponsored offering.
Sources (6)
Facts checked: 15 October 2026. Prices and hours are approximate; check locally.
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