Cooking a meal this weekend for relatives, starting with tomato poached eggs, followed by bengali fish curry (courtesy of anjum anand) but am struggling with a dessert – any good recipes for an indian dessert? Preferably without coconut or carrot please and I’m not particularly keen on sweet sugared yoghut.

If you want restaurant style then why not buy the cheapest ice cream you can, suck the taste out of it before refreezing it in a hollowed-out Weeble and then sprinkle with crusty bogies just before serving. Be sure to give it a name like “Romance Paradise” so that people don’t think it’s got bogies on it.

The Thar Desert

Pistachio icecream sculptured into the shape of a cock always seems to be on the plastic dessert menu on the table at my local injun. The only person I know who has ordered it was my mother, which was distinctly awkward when it was brought out.

The only person I know who has ordered it was my mother, which was distinctly awkward when it was brought out

Maybe you shouldn’t have made her eat it with no hands ?

Google “Ras Malai’ for recipe or simply buy ready made from local corner shop. It’s a milk whey desert very delicious.

Better still go to your local Indian sweets emporium and try some out mmmmmm

“Mango Daleks” we have christened our locals only real dessert.

I think the cock and dalek (great name for a pub) dessert is called a kulfi. Kind of like a pannacotta.

gulab jamin? i am scottish after all

mmmmmmmm Kulfi 🙂

Better still go to your local Indian sweets emporium and try some out mmmmmm

Baafi especially. God I miss living in Brum.

Baafi, Kulfi or even better Ras Malai…mmmm.
Never been able to get Ras Malai outside the curry quarter in Brum’.

Gulab jaman gets my vote too. Mmmmm, delicious. Best served warm with sweet yoghurt or ice cream or that cardomom-y vermicelli dessert that I don’t know the name of.

Ras malai is lovely too. (takisawa – our local Morrisons sells ras malai – it lives near yoghurts etc. I think it’s Mumtaz brand.)

starting with tomato poached eggs, followed by bengali fish curry

Can I come? PLEEEEAAASEE?!?!?!

(Stamps feet, throws tantrum)

After a good curry, I find something sharp/citrusy, like a mango kulfi, or lemon sorbet, is the perfect antidote, to the spicy, richness of the savoury courses. Some simple cut fruits, or a fruit salad, would be perfect as well. Mango, watermelon, orange, grapes, that sort of thing. Stuff like Ras Malai or Baafi could be a little ‘heavy’, although your meal sounds fairly light, being fish.

Wish I was going… 🙁

I like Punjabi food -lush.

India is too big to say ‘Indian food’-when it’s so different according to states and cooking.

Yeah I’m picky, went into an indian restaurant and it wasn’t Indian at all.

Flicks through cook books…

Bhang lassi.

* may not be suitable

london_lady – I’ll assume you’re in London. Go to Southall or Wembley where you will find many an indian sweet shop just waiting to sell you all sorts of delicious things. Many of the desserts named above can easily be found. Baafi/barfi is pretty easy to make too.

burfi – good stuff (diabetes in a box!)
try Ambala (one in Turnpike lane) – they do excellent stuff, otherwise wembley/southall

gulab jamn – try your local ‘indian shop’ or similar – can buy it as a packet mix, but esentially its a doughnut ball fried in hot syrup (bag of sugar and water)….mmmmmmmmmmmmm

or for something quite refreshing, try orange slices/quaters, soaked in v dilute orange juice (fresh not carton) with some syrup (water and sugar boiled up) and cardoman pods) – ex SO used to make that alot after one of her mind bending curries

RB – forgot to mention the radish raita, bhatura (made in southall but bought from my local grocery shop) and coriander chutney as well 😉

Yes I can go a mile up the road and go to some good indian grocery shops but unfortunately I leave the house before they open and get home after they have shut but I have located an indian supermarket about 15mins walk from my work so shall pop in tomorrow. May just go for the fruit option – I struggle to eat three courses these days and after looking at some of these desserts I can feel my teeth disintegrating at the thought of carnation milk and sugar!!

ripe mango with fresh lime juice. theres some nice ones in the grocers now as its mango season.