Another offering for your sweet tooth

Pudding Special

A meal is never complete in India without a sweet dish at the end. After having an elaborate lunch or dinner, one needs a dessert to complete the meal. One of the items that is catching the Indian trend are puddings.

Known all over the world for their rich taste and flavour, they are served as a sweet or a dessert. Puddings are usually made by adding milk with sugar along with some binding agent like gelatin or cornstarch and cream.

Although, an English concept, nowadays puddings are available ready made in many bakery shops. Some of the common ones are -- bread and butter pudding, mango pudding, banana bread pudding, chocolate pudding, fruit custard pudding, christmas pudding and creamy chocolate nutella pudding, etc.

Puddings are of two types – sweet and savoury. The sweet ones are the typical ones having cream, nuts and eggs and savoury ones have meat or beef, which are not very popular in India. According to Shibu TP, chef and Vice President, Under One Roof Hotel Construction Pvt. Ltd., pudding is gaining a lot of popularity.

He says, “Indian sweet puddings like kheer have always been popular in India. They are had in all regions and on all occasions. Of late, savoury puddings, are also being liked. They are served classically in the Army mess.”

Anuj Chaudhary, head chef, bakery and confectionary, Yo China, says, “We have tiramisu, orio peanut butter mousse, dark belgium chocolate mousse and cream caramel pudding. The best part is that people can have pudding all the time, in all seasons.”

Indian puddings are a more elaborate form of hasty puddings like porridge. It consists of milk, cornmeal, honey, sometimes sugar, spices like cinnamon, butter, raisins and nuts, baked in a slow oven for several hours. 

On the other hand, Mohit Nautiyal, Executive Chef, Spaghetti Kitchen, says that puddings are not at all popular in India.

“Here people prefer kheer, halwa and other sweet items over puddings. In India, dessert means sweets like gulab jamun, jalebi or rasgullas.”