Sweet madness

Indians sure have a sweet tooth. And boy, do we like our desserts real sweet! However, with growing awareness about lifestyle-induced diseases, there’s been a marked shift in how we cook and what we eat. Not just chefs all over India, but enthusiastic kitchen queens and kings, too, have been raising the bar, by whipping up healthy fusion desserts.
East meets West

Following recipes to the T is quite a thing in itself. Newbie cooks are not even sure what the dish will turn out to be. Then how does one break through this limitation and try fusion experiments? Renowned pastry chef and LM100 member Johnny Iuzzini who recently showcased modern takes on Le Meridien’s signature éclairs says, “Fusion is simple. All you need to do is feel the new ingredients, imbibe them and just blend keeping in mind their chemistry and flavours.”

Johnny, on his recent visit to India, got inspired with local winter flavours of Delhi and came up with some interesting creations like jaggery ginger éclair, rose cardamom éclair and even tamarind and kalakand (a north Indian sweet) éclairs. “I’ve travelled to Le Meridien Munich, Bangkok, Dallas, Panama and now to Delhi and created absolutely new flavours based on my travels, newly-acquired tastes, local markets and flavours,” he adds.

Indian chefs, too, whip up a storm when it comes to pleasing guests with global, local blends. Darjeeling is famous for its blends of teas. Chefs from Windamere, the colonial heritage hotel in Darjeeling, delicately infuse the local speciality tea flavours into old-time British recipes of cakes, muffins and pudding desserts, especially for their Christmas and New Year menu.

“We use only Castleton or Makaibari tea leaves and our exclusive coffee comes from the Baba Budan Hills of Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka. This adds to the authentic and delicate balance in taste,” says Joy Rai, bakery head at Windamere.

Marriage in the Indian kitchen
Pastry chef Jaswant Singh from Heritage Village Resorts, Manesar, tries to convey a slice of heritage blended with cosmopolitan flavours. “We have gone all out to please our local and global guests by exploring flavours and ingredients. We present fusion desserts like gulab jamun tart, which is a sweet combination of Indian and western delicacies.

Gulab jamun and cream is glazed in saffron and baked in tarts. Other hits are basil strawberry rasmalai and rasmalai cheesecakes. Oriental guests absolutely delight over wasabi creme brulee and galangal creme brulee,” says chef Jaswant.

And then there’s another kind of blend that breathes new life into rare and traditional delicacies. The idea is to marry age-old recipes with some new-age ingredients for an authentic twist in taste. “Nowadays, no one likes to have a plain barfi or a regular halwa after a meal. Discerning elite want to complete their meal with something, which can satiate their taste buds and comfort their sweet cravings, too.

Thus, a lot more than simple cooking has to go into the kitchen to come up with innovative ingredients and techniques,” says Bharti Sanghi, a Delhi-based chef and entrepreneur. Some of her favourites include apple pista chhena pie and badam tartlets.

 “Fusion cooking is always a nice idea as it allows you to follow your will and experiment freely. Just make sure to hold on to your traditional ingredients to get the right taste. It allows you to work on the shape and presentation.

For instance, one cannot have a cake or an apple pie always. So, add some creativity and you will come up with something new and interesting every time. For example, scoop a peach and fill it with chhena (curdled sweet milk) or garnish with grated chocolate and nougat. Fusion is all about experimentation, so feel free to try out new ingredients and techniques and stir up a delight each time,” explains Bharti.

As you read up more about these interesting recipes, do make an effort to get your hands dirty with some of these innovative dishes! Tartlets   Ingredients:

Flour: 2 cups
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Unsalted Butter: 5 tsp
Boondi: 1 cup
Grated pistachio: 1 cup
2 silver coverings:
for decoration
Silver balls: for decoration Method:

Put flour and salt in a bowl. Add butter to it. Add water gradually, until it becomes dough. Dough should just hold together, but should not be wet or sticky.

Turn out the dough onto a plastic wrap, press into a ball, and chill at least one hour before using. To form tartlet shells, lightly butter or spray the molds with vegetable oil. Roll the dough onto a lightly floured board to slightly less than 1/8-inch thickness. Cut the pastry slightly larger than the mold, press into pans, and cut away excess with your thumb. Repeat the process with rest of pastry.

Press the unbuttered pans on top of each of the pastry-filled pans. These act as weights and will prevent shrinkage and puffing while baking. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the shells for 15 to 17 minutes.

Cool the shells on racks. Fill few tartlets with grated pistachio and few with boondi. Decorate them with silver cover and silver balls. They are now ready to be served.

Pista apple chhena

Ingredients:

Boiled pistachio: 1 cup
Apple: 1
Cottage cheese (milk + few drops of Lemon): 1.5 l
Sugar: 3 tbsp
Cardamom powder: 2 pinches
Kesar (saffron): 1 pinch
Almond and pistachio to garnish

Method:

Boil pistachios, grind coarsely. Keep sugar syrup aside. Grate apple, add sugar (optional) and then steam it if you like. Keep aside. Make cottage cheese at home. Add sugar and mash well.

Add cardamom, saffron and rose water. Then, in a dish, layer pistachio, then apple, then chhena. Decorate with slivers of almond, pistachio and saffron. Serve cold.