Recipes for sweets and desserts in Pondicherry you need to make and sample

Every tourist destination is renowned for certain sweets and desserts. In Puducherry, local flavors meet French sophistication. Coconut, mango, halwas meet your usual fare of French flavors – baked sweet treats and of course the classic macarons. Try these sought-after desserts in Pondicherry that are a mix of local flavors, some with a homely touch and some with the taste of the long-gone colonial past.

1. Wheat halwa

Ingredients

• 180 gm all-purpose flour
• 300 ml water
• 100 gm sugar
• 60 gm ghee
• 8 cashews
• A pinch of cardamom powder
• A drop or two of food coloring

Instructions

1. Mix the flour with water in a bowl, ensuring you have a lump-free mixture. Set aside.
2. Take a pan and heat ghee on medium flame, once it melts add the cashews to fry until golden brown. Reduce the heat to low and add the flour mixture. Keep stirring until it thickens into a mass of dough.
3. Add a few drops of food coloring, preferably orange, and mix well. Then add the cardamom powder and sugar and mix well to combine. If it feels too thick, add some ghee.
4. Cook for some time and once the halwa starts to leave the sides of the pan, turn off the flame and serve hot. Garnish with chopped nuts.

2. Kalkandu Pongal

Ingredients

• 120 gm raw rice
• 1 tbsp moong dal
• 90 gm sugar
• 90 gm mishri or kalkandu
• 60 gm ghee
• 60 ml milk
• 1 cardamom pod, powdered
• 1 tbsp fried raisins, optional
• 5 fried cashew nuts
• A pinch of edible camphor (optional)
• A pinch of saffron strands (optional)
• A generous pinch of salt

Instructions

1. In a mortar and pestle pulverize the mishri or kalkandu with the sugar until powdered, and keep aside. You can choose to keep it whole, but this method makes cooking easier.
2. Fry the daal in a pressure cooker with steaming ghee until it releases an aroma.
3. Wash the rice and add it to the cooker with water (1:4 ratio) and pressure cook until you hear 4 whistles.
4. Open the pressure cooker, mash the contents, and add milk. Keep cooking and stirring, then add the mishri and sugar to mix.
5. Add saffron soaked in a little milk and edible camphor while stirring. Add teaspoons of ghee as needed and cook for another 5-10 minutes over medium heat.
6. Once ready, add the cardamom, fried cashews and raisins to the pongal. Mix to combine.
7. Take off the heat and serve in individual serving bowls.

3. Coconut mango macarons

Ingredients

• 120 gm almond flour
• 200 gm caster sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 50 gm white granulated sugar
• ½ tsp coconut milk, thick
• Orange gel food color

For Buttercream:

• 115 gm butter, softened
• 375 gm caster sugar
• ½ tsp coconut milk, thick

For Mango Puree:

• 1 large mango (300-400 gm)
• 2 tsp unflavored gelatin
• 30 ml water

Instructions

1. Take a big bowl and sift almond flour and sugar; mix and set aside.
2. In another bowl add the egg whites and granulated sugar into a bowl and whisk on high speed using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
3. When it’s almost done, add the coconut milk and briefly wisk. Fold this meringue into the flour bowl, mixing with a spatula until the mixture is flowy, in around 15-20 seconds.
4. Split the batter between two bowls. Set one aside and add the orange gel food color to the other bowl. Transfer the batter into two piping bags with a big round tip attached or use the aforementioned bag for both.
5. Take two big baking sheets and line them with parchment paper. Draw circles 1 inch apart on the underside of each sheet. Place on the baking sheets and pipe the batter into the circles.
6. Once piped, tap the pan against a hard surface to level the cookies. Then sprinkle the tops with ground cinnamon. Let them stand for 1 hour for a thin shell to form.
7. Preheat the oven to 160°C and bake for 18-20 minutes, until the edges set. The macaron shells will peel right off the parchment when done.
8. Let the cookies rest for 10 minutes then put them on a wire rack to cool off completely.
9. Pair the cookies and set aside then make the mango puree.
10. Peel and extract the pulp from 1 big mango, add a little lemon juice (optional), and blend to get a puree.
11. Mix gelatin and water in a ramekin and heat in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds to melt the gelatin. Add this hot liquid to the puree and stir to combine.
12. Transfer to a pastry bag and set aside to cool.
13. Take a bowl and with an electric mixer, cream butter for 1-2 minutes until it turns llight. Then add caster sugar and mix for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Spoon this buttercream into a pastry bag.
14. Take one macaron cookie and pipe a generous amount of frosting with a hole in the center. Add a little bit of the mango puree in the cavity. Add the second cookie to create the macaron.
15. Repeat until all the cookies and buttercream are used up.