Indian desserts are their own world - warm, fragrant, and often built around milk, nuts and slow-cooked sugar rather than chocolate or cream. If you usually skip pudding, the Indian sweet trolley is worth making an exception for.
The classics
Gulab jamun - soft milk dumplings soaked in rose syrup - is the one most people meet first. Then there is kheer, a cardamom-scented rice pudding; kulfi, denser and slower-melting than ice cream; and gajar ka halwa, made from slow-cooked carrots, in winter.
Spice, even in sweets
What sets Indian desserts apart is the seasoning. Cardamom, saffron, rosewater and pistachio appear again and again, giving sweets a perfume that a plain sugar pudding never has. They are sweet, but rarely one-note.
How to finish a meal
After a spiced main, a small, fragrant dessert is the perfect full stop - especially with a cup of masala chai. You do not need much; a single gulab jamun does the job.
Save room
Have a look at the sweets on our menu and leave a little space at the end.
