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55 recipes

Crema volteadaBaked caramel custard

In Lima, crema volteada is the dessert that appears at Sunday lunch in Miraflores and Barranco homes and at every birthday where an aunt is in charge of the sweets. It is firmer and richer than a Spanish flan because it is made with both evaporated and condensed milk, so it slices cleanly and tastes of toffee. The usual mistake is baking it in an oven that is too hot: the custard boils, fills with tiny holes and weeps. Keep the water bath at a bare simmer and take it out while the centre still wobbles slightly. Chef's tip: chill it overnight before turning it out; a cold custard releases in one piece and the caramel has time to melt into a pourable sauce.

80 min

Peruvian Desserts

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KinnathappamSteamed rice and coconut milk squares

Kinnathappam is named after the kinnam, the round steel plate it sets in, and it is one of the soft, wobbly sweets Mappila cooks in Malabar make for iftar and Eid. Rice flour, coconut milk and sugar are stirred into a smooth batter, steamed until just set and cut into glossy diamonds that taste of coconut and cardamom. Chef's tip: strain the batter before steaming; any lumps of rice flour show as white specks in the finished squares.

55 min

Indian Desserts

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TharikanjiSemolina milk porridge

In Mappila homes along the Malabar coast of Kerala, the first thing many people sip after the dates at iftar is a small glass of tharikanji. Semolina is toasted and simmered in milk until it just coats a spoon, then poured over shallots, cashews and raisins fried in ghee, so it is sweet, gently savoury and soothing on an empty stomach. Chef's tip: keep it thin, like a drinking porridge, because it thickens as it cools.

20 min

Indian Desserts

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Fruit custard (Indian chilled vanilla custard with fruit)

All over India, fruit custard is the dessert that turns up at birthday parties, Sunday lunches and wedding buffets, and in summer it is made by the bowlful to sit in the fridge. It is a pale yellow, spoonably thick vanilla custard, chilled until cold and then loaded with chopped banana, apple, grapes, pomegranate and mango or chikoo when they are in season. Serve it on its own in glasses, or next to warm gulab jamun at a party. This version uses eggless custard powder, which is simply cornflour with vanilla flavouring and a yellow colour: the cornflour thickens the hot milk and sets it softly as it cools, doing the work that yolks do in a French crème anglaise, so the custard is naturally egg-free. Check the label says egg-free; the usual powders are just starch, flavour and colour. Chef's tip: add the fruit only when the custard is fully cold and just before serving; stirring banana and apple into warm custard is the common mistake that turns it watery and brown.

85 min

Indian Desserts

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Gadbad ice creamLayered fruit and ice cream sundae

Gadbad means a jumble, and that is exactly what arrives at the table in Udupi and Mangalore ice-cream parlours: a tall fluted glass layered with cubes of jelly, chopped fresh fruit, scoops of vanilla, strawberry and mango ice cream, crushed nuts and a glacé cherry on top, eaten with a long spoon. The sundae is credited to a café in Udupi in the 1970s and is now the treat every coastal Karnataka family orders after a temple visit or a beach evening. It's sweet, cold, fruity and crunchy all at once. Most jelly crystals are set with gelatine, so choose a vegetarian jelly set with agar or carrageenan, and check your ice cream is egg-free and gelatine-free if that matters to you. A common mistake is layering on fruit that is wet from washing; it waters down the ice cream. Chef's tip: chill the glasses in the freezer for 15 minutes so the layers stay distinct.

25 min

Indian Desserts

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Anjeer kulfiFig ice cream

Dried figs from Afghanistan have been sold in the dry-fruit markets of Delhi's Khari Baoli and Amritsar for centuries, and anjeer kulfi is how North Indian halwais show them off in winter-wedding dessert spreads and Diwali parties. The figs bring natural sweetness, a jammy colour and a gentle crunch of tiny seeds, so less sugar goes in than in plain kulfi. Puréeing half the figs flavours every bite while the chopped half gives chewy pieces. It's lovely after a rich dinner or with a cup of masala chai. A common mistake is skipping the soak: hard dried figs stay leathery and grate on the blades. Soak them in warm milk until plump. Chef's tip: let the reduced milk cool to just warm before adding the fig paste; added while boiling, figs can make the milk look grainy.

65 min

Indian Desserts

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Mango kulfiMango ice cream

Kulfiwalas in Delhi's Chandni Chowk and Mumbai's Chowpatty freeze their mango kulfi in tall aluminium cones packed in ice and salt, and come May every family wants their own. It is not ice cream: milk is boiled down slowly until it is a third of its volume, rich and faintly caramel, then cooled and mixed with thick mango pulp, so it freezes dense and chewy rather than fluffy. Serve it unmoulded on a stick, or sliced into rounds on a plate, after a summer lunch or at a birthday. The common mistake is stirring the mango into hot milk; the acid can curdle it and heat dulls the fruit, so wait until the rabri is completely cool. Chef's tip: Kesar from Gujarat or Alphonso from Ratnagiri give the colour and perfume; if you use tinned pulp, cut the sugar by half because it is already sweetened.

60 min

Indian Desserts

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Chikoo ice creamSapodilla ice cream

The coast from Dahanu and Gholvad in Maharashtra up to Navsari and Valsad in South Gujarat is chikoo country, and when the orchards are heavy in winter, every home freezes a tub of this. Ripe chikoo tastes of brown sugar, malt and pear, so the ice cream needs barely any sugar and comes out a soft caramel colour, a little grainy from the fruit in a pleasing way. It's a family dessert after Sunday lunch and a favourite at Uttarayan terrace parties. The common mistake is using chikoos that are not fully soft; underripe fruit is astringent and makes the mouth feel furry. Press each one: it should give like a ripe peach. Chef's tip: blend the chikoo with the milk only just before folding; the pulp browns and turns flat if it sits around.

20 min

Indian Desserts

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Paan kulfiBetel leaf ice cream

For many Lucknow and Banaras families, dinner ends with a folded meetha paan, and in Mumbai's paan shops and kulfi joints that same flavour turned into kulfi became a cult favourite at weddings and parties. The base is milk reduced by two-thirds; betel leaves, rose petal gulkand, fennel and cardamom go in once it has cooled, so it freezes dense, pale green and fragrant, with little chewy bits of gulkand. It is sweet, floral and leafy-fresh, and cuts through a rich biryani or korma dinner. A common mistake is boiling the betel leaves in the milk: they turn bitter and the colour goes khaki. Grind them raw with cold milk instead. Chef's tip: use the tender, sweet Calcutta or Banarasi leaves sold for meetha paan; the thick Maghai or Kapoori kind can taste peppery.

60 min

Indian Desserts

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Sitaphal ice creamCustard apple ice cream

Every October, when custard apples pile up in the markets of Pune and Mumbai, the queues lengthen at the city's natural ice-cream parlours on Juhu and Malabar Hill for one flavour: sitaphal. The fruit tastes of pear, vanilla and cream, and when the pulp is folded into a simple milk-and-cream base, nothing else is needed. The ice cream is pale, soft and full of tiny tender pieces of fruit. It is the dessert of Navratri and Diwali visits in Maharashtra. A common mistake is blending the pulp with the seeds in; cracked seeds make the ice cream bitter, and they are toxic. Seed the segments by hand or rub the pulp through a coarse sieve. Chef's tip: never cook the pulp; heat turns custard apple bitter, so add it only to the fully cooled base.

40 min

Indian Desserts

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Gulkand ice creamRose petal ice cream

Gulkand, rose petals pounded with sugar and left to mature in the sun, is what gives a meetha paan its sweet floral heart, and Mumbai parlours and Delhi dessert shops have long turned it into a pink-flecked ice cream. This no-churn version needs no machine: whipped cream and condensed milk freeze smooth, and the gulkand stays in soft, jammy ribbons that taste of roses and honey. Serve it after a Mughlai dinner, at a summer party, or between slices of malpua. The common mistake is overwhipping the cream until grainy; then the ice cream feels buttery. Stop at soft, floppy peaks. Chef's tip: loosen the gulkand in the condensed milk before folding; stirred in on its own, it sinks as sticky clumps.

15 min

Indian Desserts

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Mutta malaEgg yolk threads in syrup

Mutta mala, the egg garland, is the showpiece sweet of Malabar Muslim kitchens: a nest of shiny golden threads on a wedding table in Kannur or a festive iftar spread in Kozhikode. Yolks are poured in a fine stream through a pierced coconut shell or a squeeze bottle into simmering cardamom syrup, where they set instantly into strands. Nothing is wasted; the whites are beaten with sugar and steamed into a soft, white pudding called mutta surka, and the two are served side by side. Mutta mala is sweet, rich and silky with a gentle eggy flavour; the pudding is light and wobbly. This is vegetarian with egg, not vegan. The common mistake is syrup that is boiling hard: the strands break up into crumbs. Keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: strain the yolks through a fine sieve twice; any bits of white or membrane clog the nozzle and make the threads break.

60 min

Indian Desserts

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ChhangbanPounded sticky rice cakes

Chhangban are soft, chewy cakes that Mizo families make from steamed sticky rice pounded in a wooden mortar, traditionally for Christmas, Chapchar Kut and visits from relatives. They are eaten warm, dipped in sugar, or toasted the next day with a mug of black tea. The mistake people make is pounding cold rice: it will not come together, so work while it is steaming hot. Chef's tip: wet the pestle or your hands with salted water so the rice does not stick.

60 min

Indian Desserts

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Cremolada (Lima passion fruit slush)

From January to March, when Lima's coast swelters, queues form at the cremolada counters of Barranco and along the Jirón de la Unión downtown for cups of this thick fruit ice. It sits between a granita and a sorbet: frozen fruit pulp scraped again and again until it is slushy and spoonable, with real bits of fruit through it. Passion fruit (maracuyá) gives a sharp, bright flavour; creamy lúcuma, with its maple and sweet potato taste, is the other favourite. Chef's tip: use a shallow metal tray; it freezes faster and evenly, so you get fine crystals rather than chunks.

180 min

Peruvian Desserts

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Steamed Nendran banana mash

Nendran is the long, golden plantain of Kerala, sold in hands at every market from Palakkad to Thiruvananthapuram, and a steamed ripe Nendran is one of the first fruits a Malayali baby tastes. Raw, it is too firm and starchy for a six-month-old, so it is steamed in its skin until the flesh turns soft and orange-gold, the dark string of seeds in the centre is pulled out, and the rest is mashed smooth. It is naturally sweet, so nothing is added: no sugar, jaggery, honey or salt. It is free of the major allergens. Chef's tip: wait until the skin is fully yellow with black freckles; a green Nendran stays chalky however long you steam it.

15 min

Indian Desserts

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KilanjiRice crepes with coconut banana sauce

On the coral islands of Lakshadweep, kilanji is the treat for weddings, Eid mornings and a welcome guest. Thin, soft crepes of soaked rice and egg, or rice alone as here, are folded and drenched in a warm sauce of coconut milk sweetened with coconut jaggery and full of mashed ripe banana and cardamom. The islanders often add egg to the batter; this version keeps it vegan with a touch of cooked rice for softness. The common mistake is a gritty batter: the rice needs a full four hours' soak and a long, fine grind, or the crepes tear. Chef's tip: keep the sauce barely warm, never boiling, so the coconut milk stays silky.

290 min

Indian Desserts

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Sakin gataSticky rice and sesame cakes

During Wangala, the Garo harvest festival of drums and dancing each autumn, families steam sakin gata: sticky rice ground with black sesame, sweetened lightly and wrapped in leaves. The cakes are chewy, nutty and grey-black, shared with visitors and offered at the celebrations. The common mistake is grinding the rice too dry, which makes cakes that crack; the dough should feel like soft clay. Chef's tip: toast the sesame until it just starts to pop, no darker, or it turns bitter.

65 min

Indian Desserts

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Alle belleCoconut-filled pancake rolls

Alle belle are the tea-time sweet of Goan Catholic homes: soft, lacy pancakes, sometimes tinted with a little green from pandan or turmeric leaf, rolled up around a sticky filling of fresh coconut and dark palm jaggery (godd). They appear at feast-day teas, at village fairs and in school tiffin boxes, and they contain egg in the batter. The common mistake is a thick batter, which gives heavy pancakes that crack when rolled; it should pour like single cream and spread thinly with a swirl of the pan. Chef's tip: cook the filling until it is sticky but still soft, then add a pinch of salt, because the salt makes the palm jaggery taste richer.

45 min

Indian Desserts

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Parsi ravoSemolina milk pudding

Ravo is the sweet a Parsi family in Surat or Navsari makes on a birthday morning, on Navroz and after the navjote, served warm in small bowls with a crown of ghee-fried almonds and raisins. Semolina is roasted gently in ghee and then cooked in a lot of milk, so it ends up spoonable and creamy, much looser than a North Indian sheera, scented with nutmeg and a little rose water. Many households beat in an egg for richness; this version leaves it out so it stays vegetarian. The mistake is adding the semolina to boiling milk without roasting it first, which makes a gluey, raw-tasting pudding. Chef's tip: take ravo off the heat while it still looks slightly too loose; it thickens a lot as it sits.

30 min

Indian Desserts

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Tamina (roasted semolina with honey)

Word of a birth in an Algiers household brings a steady flow of visitors, and each is offered a small dish of tamina with coffee: semolina roasted in a dry pan until it smells like toasted hazelnuts, then bound with melted butter and honey and dusted with cinnamon. It is soft, crumbly and sweet, a little like a spoonable halva, and is said to give strength to the new mother. Tamina is also made for Mawlid and served with tea, with the cinnamon often sifted over in a lattice pattern. Chef's tip: toast the semolina slowly over a medium-low heat and stir without stopping; burnt dark specks make the whole batch bitter and cannot be picked out.

25 min

Algerian Desserts

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Bradj (date-filled semolina diamonds)

When the first warm days arrive, families in Constantine and across eastern Algeria mark the spring festival with picnics, boiled eggs and plates of bradj: diamonds of buttery semolina sandwiching a layer of spiced date paste, cooked slowly on a griddle rather than baked. The outside turns golden and crumbly, the date layer stays soft and sticky, and orange-blossom water perfumes the whole thing. Bradj is served warm with a drizzle of honey or a cold glass of buttermilk, and is just as good the next day with coffee. Chef's tip: press the dough together rather than kneading it; worked like bread dough, semolina turns tough, and bradj should break with a crumble.

75 min

Algerian Desserts

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Griwech (honey-dipped pastry knots)

No Ramadan table in Algeria feels complete without a plate of griwech next to the chorba, ready for the sweet craving that follows the fast. Thin sheets of dough are cut into rectangles, slit and twisted into knots, fried until crisp and golden, then plunged into warm honey and scattered with toasted sesame. Each piece snaps cleanly, then melts into a sticky, orange-blossom sweetness. Batches are made days ahead and kept in tins for visitors through the month and on into Eid. Chef's tip: keep the oil at 170 °C; oil that is too hot is the usual mistake, colouring the outside before the layers inside crisp, so the griwech goes soft in the honey.

120 min

Algerian Desserts

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Arayeche (almond star pastries)

Picture a star with three plump arms: arayeche are shaped from a ball of orange-blossom almond paste wrapped in very thin pastry and pinched into points, baked pale, dipped in honey and then rolled in icing sugar until snow-white. Along with dziriettes and makrout, they are fixtures of the sweet trays at weddings and Eid in Algiers, set out in paper cases with mint tea. The pastry is crisp and fine, the almond filling dense and fragrant, and the coating of sugar sticks to the honey in a sweet crust. Chef's tip: pull them out of the oven while still pale with barely golden tips; browned arayeche are a common mistake and taste dry once the sugar goes on.

120 min

Algerian Desserts

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Rfis constantinois (date and semolina sweet)

Rather than toasting loose semolina, Constantine cooks first bake a thick semolina galette on the griddle, then crumble it while still hot and work it with melted butter and soft date paste until it turns into a fragrant, crumbly sweet. Rfis is made to celebrate a birth and for Mawlid, and is set out in a large dish, shaped into a dome and studded with almonds, for family to pinch from with coffee. It tastes of toasted bread, caramel-like dates and butter, with warm cinnamon at the end. Where rfis goes wrong is crumbling the galette after it has cooled; it must be broken up hot so the butter and dates bind it. Chef's tip: grate or rub the galette while it is hot; once it cools, it hardens and crumbles into coarse lumps instead of fine, even crumbs.

40 min

Algerian Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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