Though Diwali is the festival of lights, it doesn't really go light on your tummy, as it's an occasion that justifies bingeing. Keeping in mind the same, city chefs have churned out some unconventional Diwali dishes that are more westernised and as tempting as the traditional ladoos, kaju katri or any other mithai.
Pastry Chef Savio Fernandes of JW Marriot has prepared a lot of fusion sweets for the festival week. "We have a delicacy like Fruit Rasmalai… If it's a Strawberry rasmalai, the creme roll is filled with strawberry and served with rabri," he explains. Other contemporary sweets by him are the Mishti Doi Cheese Cake, where "a Bengali classic is played around with by adding less milk and more cheese"; gulab jamun creme roll; rabri apple tart —"caramalised apple in rabri served with vanilla ice cream". The popular doodhi halwa and gajar halwa have been turned into doodhi/gajar halwa rolls. There's more like Tiramisu Rasmalai (where rasmalai replaces the sponge cake) and Boondi Cheese Cake (an original French delicacy modified by using mootichoor ladoo instead of biscuits and stuffed with Gulab Jamun. The latter is quite popular now.
Chef Suresh Thampy (Courtyard by Marriott) feels that the reason for westernising Indian sweets is the fact that the original ones do not have a longer shelf life. "We have a lot of hampers this time, which includes coconut chocolates, stuffed chocolates (filled with thandai instead of wine, or mint, or almond), Praline cookies (made of caramalised sugar and nuts, that tastes like a chikki)," says Suresh.
Pastry Chef Prashant Sabne of Renaissance recommends Omali (Arabi dessert with rabri, looking like khari biscuits dipped in tea), saffaron and chilli flavoured chocolates. "Sweets like Baked Yoghurt (combination of rabri and mishti dohi), Roohafza Panakota and Elaichi Banana Panakota are very popular," says Prashant.
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