of our best restaurant desserts

It’s well and truly a post-pandemic Diwali, folks, and while we’ll still be cautious, we’re not going to hold back. As our restaurants return to normalcy, staff shortages notwithstanding, they’ve opened their doors wide to welcome us back in. Come on, admit it, you’ve missed them!

And since it’s Diwali, and the desire is up for the sweet things in life, here’s our list of the top nine Indian desserts in Sydney and Melbourne restaurants. Chalo mouh meetha karen! Feel free to add to this list, and include a story behind the dessert of your dreams – whether traditional or a modern interpretation, satisfying in its simplicity or dripping with decadence and desire! Feel free to add to this list and include a story behind the dessert of your dreams from your favourite Indian restaurant – whether traditional or a modern interpretation, satisfying in its simplicity, or dripping with decadence and desire!

“Tastes like chai,” non-Indian diners have said to Jessi Singh, chef and owner at Daughter In Law, after their first bite of his kulfi.

“I know it’s actually the cardamom and cinnamon they’re referring to,” Jessi laughs, “but I find myself calling my kulfi ‘chai kulfi’ now!”

Kulfi is a perfect palate cleanser, says Jessi, especially after a spice-heavy meal. His version is fully home-made, cooked in the traditional way he learned in his native Punjab.

Full cream milk sits simmering for 8-10 hours, with cloves and pistachios going in as well as the other ‘chai flavours’ his diners readily identify.

An interesting addition though, is honey, locally sourced from Mornington. “It’s an amazing binder, with just the right amount of sweetness,” Jessi reveals.

When it all boils down, it goes into kulfi moulds, the most authentic you’ve ever seen, and then into the deep freeze to set. At the restaurant, it is served in its mould, decanted on the table.

Just like grandma made it.

DAUGHTER IN LAW

37 Little Bourke St, Melbourne, VIC, 3000

No list of Indian desserts is complete without the iconic gulab jamun, perhaps the best known of Indian sweets. This one at Urban Tadka is not exactly traditional, but it is so spectacular that you simply have to try it.

Is this really a gulab jamun? Or is it a fancy donut?

“It’s a gronut – a gulab jamun shaped like a donut,” co-owner Inder Dua explains. “We serve it hot with cookies and cream ice cream, topped with Persian fairy floss and chopped pistachios.”

He goes on, “We’re always finding new ways to present traditional favourites. We don’t want to transform flavour, just tweak presentation.”

The gronut does wonders for the gulab jamun, actually. “Cooking gulab jamun balls in large quantities, we’ve found the centres can remain hard. Changing the balls to a donut shape, the heat travels uniformly throughout, and the end result is fluffier and easier on the palate.”

Of course this meant they had to create a custom saancha (mould) to produce donuts of uniform shape and size. But the effort was well worth it. Just watch your waiter’s face light up when you say you’d like to try the gronut.

“People dine out for an experience,” Inder muses. “We’re happy to provide one.”

URBAN TADKA

321 Mona Vale Rd Terrey Hills NSW

Helly Raichuria is currently serving a phirni at her exclusive Enter Via Laundry that is going down particularly well with her guests. Phirni is an unusual rice pudding, thick and creamy, for which the rice is coarsely ground before it goes into the milk.

Helly’s version is a fruity phirni, the fruit here being blood orange. The pudding comes served in a ramekin, covered with a layer of thinly sliced blood orange, which is in season currently.

If you think that’s unusual for phirni, get a whiff of the saffron used. A luxurious dose of Iranian saffron, with its stronger aroma, elevates the dish to a celebratory level. Being deeper in colour, it goes well with the blood orange too.

Even more intriguingly, there’s a brittle finish to it all, which you tap with your spoon to break before diving in. Inside, you’ll find the texture is similar to crème caramel, only grainier. “There’s a technique to phirni that must be perfected,” Helly admits. “Every step has to be just right. It’s a difficult dish to make especially if you’re making it for 40-50 people.

But I’m quite pleased with the way it’s been received. It’s quite a festive dish.”

Perfect for Diwali season then – especially one that’s post pandemic.

The Chidiya Ka Ghosla (literally ‘bird’s nest’) at Atta restaurant is wonderfully intriguing, in both flavour and texture. It comes in a white chocolate shell, with a delicate pistachio floss creating the nest illusion. Inside, you’ll find two varieties of kulfi - blueberry and cardamom - to represent ‘eggs’.

The chef at Atta Harry Dhanjal is responsible for creating this exotic dish (he chooses to call it a ‘composition’). Describing the different layers in it, he says, “The pistachio floss, which most people tuck in to first, melts in the mouth like air. Then there’s a symphony of flavours – the blueberry kulfi bringing in a hint of sourness, the cardamom kulfi a delicate richness, and the chocolate doing its own thing.”

Because, he concludes with a smile, “We want your dining experience with us to end on a high note.”

ATTA

159/161 Victoria Ave, Albert Park VIC

Ish Restaurant

When opposites attract… magic can happen.

In this Italian-Indian marriage, the light and airy tiramisu comes together with the dense gulab jamun, and converts to finger-licking goodness.

Of course it’s only elements of tiramisu here, as owner-director Akshay Thiparani explains –which come in the form of the coffee mascarpone cream first.

“It’s made from scratch in-house, with high quality coffee beans locally sourced. We sit our pieces of gulab jamun in the mascarpone cream, throw in some chocolate-covered raisins, and then finish off with a drizzle of chocolate powder.”

It’s a recent addition on the menu, and its glass tumbler presentation is adding to the wow factor of it all. It’s Akshay’s favourite “pick me up”.

ENTER VIA LAUNDRY entervialaundry.com.au

ISH RESTAURANT

199 Gertrude St, Fitzroy VIC

Manjits Wharf

Shahi Tukda is a bread pudding of sorts, enhanced in Mughal fashion with evaporated milk instead of custard, and embellished with saffron and nuts. At Manjit’s, this traditional favourite is presented to you deconstructed. The prepared bread is brought out to you, with the chilled, sweet, luscious cream on the side. Your waiter pours it over the bread as you watch.

“The idea is to balance the crispness with that meltin-your-mouth feel, and the warm-yet-cold play on the palate,” Chef Varun Gujral describes.

The end result, he says, is like a “big hug from your grandma on a cold rainy winter’s night.”

The concept came to him as he researched the food of the kings - preparations that have lost their meaning or have been forgotten. Funnily enough, the dish has found fans in modern-day royalty.

“I served it once to King Abdullah, Queen Rania and Prince Hussein of Jordan,” he reveals. “The Prince came back the following night and indulged.”

10/49 Lime Street Sydney NSW