Sukhadia's Indian Sweets In NYC

This Halloween, your seasonal sweet tooth deserves something tastier and more unexpected than Hershey's Miniatures castoffs. Stock up on more exotic treats at Sukhadia's, a time-honored Indian sweet shop in Midtown.

Using recipes that date back to 19th-century India, Sukhadia's creates sculpted neon confections that fill vast rows of industrial-sized trays. Try the almond poori, a pumpkin-colored piece of marzipan fragrant with rosewater and studded with a shiny almond. Checkerboard squares of green and orange burfee (reminiscent of the Indian flag) make for a rich, milky bite. The cardamom syrup-soaked gulab jamun outshine those at most Indian restaurants, but it's the jalebi—crispy fried spirals of sugary dough—that sell out the quickest.

This year, India's own sweets-heavy holiday, Diwali, or "Festival of Lights," falls the same week as Halloween. You can add a taste of Diwali to your celebration with Sukhadia's one-pound samplers (pictured; $11 to $15). Though they appeal to more mature tastes than, say, wax fangs, each bite will still give you giddy childish delight.

Sukhadia's, 17 W. 45th St. (between 5th and 6th aves.); 212-395-7300 or sukhadia.com