As in many cultures, in Indian Catering the dessert course is just as important as the rest of the meal. Most Asians will confess to having a sweet tooth and the sheer variety of sweet dishes available is surely to blame! Indian desserts are indeed very tempting and in Asian catering, a sumptuous banquet is incomplete without the customary dessert course. In fact, no celebration, no matter how small, is complete without the sharing of sweet delicacies. Indian desserts can be made from vegetables, fruits, grains, milk and milk products.
They can by in large be divided into two categories, the milk based desserts and the flour based desserts. No matter the season, be it the hottest of summers or the coldest of winters, there is always a suitable mouthwatering dessert on the menu. With India being such a diverse country with many different kinds of regional cuisine, asian caterers often have huge choice of dessert items available for service. The dessert course can actually be the ideal time to offer guests a selection of desserts from all regions of India – a grand dessert buffet always goes down a treat. The dessert stations can be themed in keeping with the region the desserts originate from. Guests are free to select from a wide variety of desserts at their leisure, a fabulous close to a wedding banquet.
Indian catering offers a wonderful variety of different flavours and colours in the dessert course. In fact, the combination of a warm deep orange gajar (carrot) halwa served with a frozen white malai kulfi (indian ice-cream) is very much a favourite choice for clients who want a plated dessert served to each guest. Indian sweets are so versatile that confectioanry such as ‘mithai’ and ‘jalebi’ are boxed as gifts at auspicious occasions as well as served as dessert items. Just as Halwas and sweet Puris can be served for breakfast as well as after dinner. Indian catering desserts can be served alongside typical western desserts with ease, in fact delicious duos such as Gulabjamuns served with vanilla ice-cream or Rasmalai served with fresh strawberries are increasingly popular.
The possibilities with dessert in Indian catering are as boundless as ones imagination. Many Asian caterers now will take as much care and precision on dessert presentation as their western counterparts. The dessert, especially when plated for each guest individually, should look colourful and tasteful, almost like a piece of edible art. The choise of crockery is important. A different colour plate or a differently shaped platter for the dessert service will have a real wow factor. Indian caterers now use garnishes of mint leaves, berries and fruit coulis’ to give that extra finesse to the dessert plate and really complete the banquet in style.
