The decorative silver foil is edible, too.
That typically rhombus-shaped tile is a kaju katli ($7 per pound), made with ghee, sugar, and (likely) cardamom in addition to its namesake ingredient, cashew. It's not as intensely sweet as the blockier coconut burfi ($8 per pound), which brings to mind a macaroon garnished with pistachio; like all burfis, it's cooked down from condensed milk and sugar.
On the corner of the roof, a weathervane (or what's left of one) and cupola make an odd couple with the sign for an Indian snack-food shop. The Cape Cod-style cupola might date to the 1950s, or earlier, but Usha Foods has been on the premises just ten years, said the owners, who couldn't tell me anything about the previous tenant.
Usha Foods and Usha Sweets
255-03 Hillside Ave., Floral Park, Queens
718-343-1500
www.UshaSweets.com
