I’ve always been a wee bit sceptical of dishes that come to the table with a neat little memo denoting their very own ‘nutritional facts’ as it were. My mantra has always been: “I’ll ask no questions, so please don’t give me the answers!”
But this time, as the server dutifully placed the white bowl in front of me, there was no mental ‘tut-tutting’. “I have brought this upon myself,” I silently reminded myself, as I had my first tentative taste of the bowl’s contents.
I had, after all, checked myself in for a gruelling birthday weekend of detox, exercise and more… at an integrated wellness destination in Maharashtra’s lush Sahyadri mountain range. After a two-day rigorous exercise and diet programme, I was looking forward to the ‘treat’ that Chef Ajit Singh of the resort’s pastry department (oxymoron, anyone?) had in store for the dairy lover in me.
Putting a slightly savoury spin on a traditional kheer, the chef makes this one from thinly sliced white onion and some chopped garlic—in lieu of rice—gently simmering the two in low fat milk for hours. This is then sweetened with stevia and finished off with a drizzle of truffle-infused extra virgin olive oil, with an edible flower delicately placed atop the concoction.
While I have, in the past, heard about savoury Indian desserts such as a halwa made with meat and a barfi made with black garlic, this delicious onion and garlic kheer was my very first tryst with treading that fine line between sweet and savoury. And what a treat that turned out to be.
The motivation behind the genesis of this dessert, the chef says, was to create something unfamiliar, using unused ingredients in desserts, and in keeping with the resort’s philosophy of promoting super foods.
Well, I for one am not complaining!
—Thinly sliced onion
—Chopped white garlic cloves
—Fresh cow’s milk
—Stevia for low-cal sweetness
—Truffle-infused olive oil—because it’s healthy
—Edible flower garnish so you are not frightened off
The Mumbai-based writer is passionate about food, travel and luxury, not necessarily in that order.
