Halwai bringing a very sweet treat

The Arabic word Halwa means sweet and Halwai means sweet-maker. The Halwai are a caste of confectioners and sweet-makers, found mainly in North India. The experienced and talented Chambel Singh joins the Taj Samudra from his previous assignment at Taj Connemara, as the new Halwai Chef.

The preparation of authentic Halwa sweets involve a unique process - the recipes and preparation methods are age old secrets of the Halwai and have been protected and passed down many generations. It is a fact that only the Halwai can prepare the most authentic Indian Halwa desserts.

Although there are many varieties of Halwa sweets available, almost all Halwai sweets are grain and/or milk based, dry (like laddus), moist (like burfis) or dipped in syrup (like gulab jamun).

On June 1 the Taj Samudra launches a new range of Indian sweets at the Lobby Lounge, offering 12 varieties of delicious Indian desserts:

Gajar Halwa - a sweet carrot based dessert is mouth-watering delicacy and is one of the most popular desserts of India. Ras Malai - a sweet widely found in India consisting of sugary cream-coloured balls of dough and a creamy sweet liquid (a must try dessert). Besani Kesar Roll - a saffron infused sweet in the shape of a roll is made with besan flour (made with combination of chick pea powder). Chandrakala - South India a sweet made using flour and sugar is filled with stuffing prepared out of dry fruit. Mysore Pak is a sweet chickpea fudge which originated in Karnataka in India (famous during the festival of Diwali). Gulab Jamun must be one of the most loved and popular sweets in the Indian sub continent (made of a dough consisting mainly of milk solids, khoya (buffalo milk) is rolled into a ball together with some flour and then deep fried, then put into a sugar syrup flavored with cardamom seeds and rosewater, kewra or saffron).

The Lobby Lounge will feature Lancha Jamun and Kala Jamun. Rasgullah is a very popular cheese-based, syrupy sweet dish originally from the Indian state of Orissa and similar to Gulab Jamun in the way it is presented. Raj Bhog is an enriched and enlarged version of the Rasgullah. Burfi is an Indian sweet made from milk solids and sugar and typically flavoured with cardamom or nuts - somewhat similar to the milk toffees of Sri Lanka the burfi comes in many varieties. The Lobby Lounge offers three types of burfi - Badam Burfi (rose water and almond), Pista Burfi (pistachio) and Kaju burfi (cashew).