Each one is hand-picked to please a crowd. Try one for Diwali, Ramadan, Rakshabandhan or for parties. Some of these Indian desserts are even perfect for gifting to friends and family.

Pack them up in beautiful mithai boxes, add a ribbon and offer during celebrations. I promise everyone will love them.

India’s most famous desserts

Ranging from Mishti Doi in the East, Payasam in the South, Shrikhand in the West and Phirni in the North, Indian desserts are as eclectic as the culture itself. Every community has preferences when it comes to the sweet stuff.

Depending on regional and seasonal availability, different fruits can be incorporated into Indian desserts.

Now there’s an incredible wave of fusion desserts making their way into the Indian dessert world. Innovation and open-mindedness pave a new way for sweet treats we never expected to grace our palates. It’s a beautiful thing to see and something I like to dabble in myself now and again.

While the world of Indian desserts is as rich and varied as the dishes themselves, there are some ingredients that play major roles: Milk, ghee, nuts, sugar, spices, rice, wheat and lentils are all common ingredients in Indian sweet recipes.

My love for Indian desserts

Diwali was always a special time in our home. It would warrant us going to Indian sweet shops to stock up on boxes of brightly-coloured treasures to share with family and friends.

My dad’s heart is as big as my appetite so he always made sure we bought one of everything. There’d be rows and rows of burfi, penda, mohanthal, halwa, laddoo, gulab jambu, kaju katli, pista rolls, kulfi, soan papdi and jalebi, in every colour under the sun. It was an Aladdin’s cave of milk-based sweets, topped with gold and silver leaf.

What can I say, I’m the granddaughter of a mithaiwala!

1. Gulab Jamun Cake

Eggless Gulab Jamun Cake

This simple, yet beautiful cake sees the queen of Indian sweets transformed into an easy-to-make dessert. Rose, cardamom and saffron give the syrup-glazed sponge its iconic “gulab jamun” flavour. Serve it with ice cream for a truly royal pudding, or enjoy a piece with masala chai.

Check out this recipe

2. Vanilla Rasmalai

Vanilla Rasmalai

Soft, spongy cheese dumplings soaked in sweet vanilla, cardamom and saffron milk. Inspired by the classic Bengali dessert, this version is served chilled and the flavours are reminiscent of the Indian ice cream, kulfi.

Check out this recipe

3. Sweet Boondi

How to Make Boondi

This traditional Indian sweet is always popular around festival time. The juicy bubbles of chickpea flour are flavoured with delicate saffron and ground green cardamom. Serve it warm as it is or form into Laddoos.

Check out this recipe

4. Indian-Inspired Rocky Road

Indian-Inspired Rocky Road

Truffle-like chocolate studded with pistachios, almonds, dried mango, crystallised ginger, Turkish delight, mini marshmallows and spiced shortbread biscuits. Dried rose petals top the Rocky Road off beautifully.

Check out this recipe

5. Mohanthal and Dhilo Mohanthal

Mohanthal and Dhilo Mohanthal

Buttery, melt-in-the-mouth fudge made with chickpea flour, cardamom, saffron and mace. Mohanthal is such a delicious Indian sweet (mithai). Enjoy it as a square or as a hot-fudge like pudding with vanilla ice cream.

Check out this recipe

6. Pistachio Burfi

Pistachio Burfi

An easy recipe for melt-in-the-mouth Indian milk fudge (burfi) made with REAL PISTACHIO. Perfect for gifting. Your family and friends will love it!

Check out this recipe

7. Eggless Double Coconut, Lime & Cardamom Cheesecake

Double Coconut, Lime & Cardamom Cheesecake

This is an eggless baked cheesecake and the filling is made with a combination of ricotta, cream cheese and lime. It’s gloriously decadent with a hint of sharpness to cut through the richness of the coconutty cream. The edges of the cheesecake caramelise beautifully and the centre rises and falls just a little for a melt-in-the-mouth dessert.

Check out this recipe

8. Creamy Kesar Shrikhand

Creamy Kesar Shrikhand

Creamy Kesar Shrikhand is one of the most simple Indian desserts. Hung yoghurt whipped with sugar, cardamom and saffron. Serve it chilled as it is, or as part of a celebratory thali.

Check out this recipe

9. White Chocolate & Raspberry Kheer

White Chocolate & Raspberry Kheer

White Chocolate & Raspberry Kheer is an Indian-style rice pudding supercharged with spices, juicy berries and luxurious chocolate shavings.

Check out this recipe

Pin this recipe collection for later! 10 Beautiful Indian Desserts for Celebrations

If you like these recipes, you’ll love this Cookie Dough Chocolate Burfi

Or maybe these cheeky Rum-Soaked Kala Jamuns

Love Sanjana

The post 10 Beautiful Indian Desserts for Celebrations appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

Seeroh is one of those desserts that brings out the greedy little kid in me. Sweet semolina tossed with spices and so buttery it melts as soon as it hits your tongue. Flippin’ gorgeous. And before you ask, it’s nothing like ‘school dinner’ semolina. Not even close.

Years ago we’d make special trips to the mandir (temple) during Navratri and Diwali to pray for the year ahead, see family and have an amazing, spiritual evening. Of course, I was there for all of these reasons, plus for the reason that there would be prashad – sweets like Seeroh offered to the gods that evening. After putting my hands together in prayer, I’d open them up and wait patiently for my Seeroh.

I believe glace cherries have three purposes in life; to garnish cocktails, top cherry bakewells and stud this delicious addictive treat. If you really don’t like them, replace with candied lemon or orange pieces. They’ll add an incredible texture to contrast the soft texture of this dessert.

I love experimenting with different flavour combinations with this recipe. The basic Seeroh is so simple that’s it’s easy to get carried away with different flavourings. One of my favourites is this saffron and lemon version. The other is my mum’s orange and cardamom version. I could eat it all…. day… long.

There are two ways you can serve this dish; The first is to set and cool this in a square thali so you can cut it into pieces, and the second is to serve it loose as a hot pudding. Top with a scoop of ice cream and be blown away by the insane contrast of hot and cold.

You should always store Seeroh in the fridge because it can spoil quickly at room temperature. This should keep well for 2-4 days – whether it will last that long is another story.

Hot Saffron and Lemon Seeroh with Pistachio Ice Cream
Serves 8-10

Ingredients

700ml hot milk
140ml hot water
100g sugar
50g golden syrup
140g salted butter
260g coarse semolina
Zest of 2 large unwaxed lemons – I love those beautiful Amalfi lemons
A large pinch of saffron
2 tbsp glace cherries, halved

Homemade or shop-bought pistachio ice cream, to serve (I’ll give you my recipe in another post)
Slivered almonds and pistachios to decorate
Icing sugar to dust, optional

Method

1. Heat the butter in a large non-stick pan and add the semolina. Sauté on a low/medium heat for around 3 minutes or until golden and toasted.

2. Slowly add the hot milk and water, whisking all the time. The mixture should thicken as you whisk. Add the sugar and syrup.

3. Cook on a medium heat for around 15 minutes or until a buttery sheen becomes visible on the top and sides of the mixture. Keep stirring all the time and cook for as long as it takes for the mixture to become glossy.

4. Remove from the heat, add the lemon zest, saffron and glace cherries. Combine.

5. Serve hot with a big scoop of pistachio ice cream.

That’s it. Pistachio and Rose Bombay Halwa, Gujarati Mohanthal and Hot Saffron and Lemon Seeroh with Pistachio Ice Cream. Three Diwali desserts to keep you sweet all year long.

Happy Diwali!

Love Sanjana

The post Hot Saffron and Lemon Seeroh with Pistachio Ice Cream appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.