In my opinion, Indian sweets do not taste very good. There's a soapy taste and a perfume taste mixed in with the sweetness. I don't know how they're made so I can't begin to guess what ingredient contributes these unpleasant flavors. I smile and eat one to acknowledge the friendly gesture, but secretly I am experiencing mild to moderate discomfort.

11/30/2010 12:36:22 PM

OMFG RACIST

11/30/2010 12:37:54 PM

hell no. some are abs delicious.

for example:

Jalebi


Gulab Jamun


Rice Pudding

11/30/2010 12:39:50 PM

none of ^ even looks slightly appealing.

11/30/2010 12:41:45 PM

I am always surprised in the rare instances when I have feelings or thoughts that I deem to be racially prejudiced. While I haven't spent significant time trying to understand the root cause of these feelings, I do work to offset those feelings or thoughts with positive deeds.

In this case, however, I can confidently say that the issue here is the unpleasant flavor and has nothing to do with the country of origin of these food items.

11/30/2010 12:42:20 PM

I agree that they aren't very good. Whenever I find myself at an Indian buffet I try something, but I've never really found anything I thoroughly enjoyed. Luckily I am not a huge sweets person most of the time.

11/30/2010 12:43:58 PM

I have never seen these food items at an Indian restaurant. There seems to be a fairly specific category of food item called "Indian sweets" that are passed around this time of year as gifts. The worst one is diamond shaped and has a metallic silver coating. Google tells me it's called Kaju Katli.

I actually like gulab jamun and dessert kheer (rice pudding).

11/30/2010 12:45:09 PM

i love these little bastards

11/30/2010 12:45:14 PM

These are the little buggers that I do not like.

11/30/2010 12:49:43 PM

11/30/2010 12:49:57 PM

fuckin kheer is the win

11/30/2010 12:53:25 PM

I love all those alot.

but Jalebi is like magic in your mouth. its really expensive to buy, never seen it at an Indian buffet.

11/30/2010 12:58:01 PM

Everyone has different tastes...

11/30/2010 1:36:07 PM

Quote :

" These are the little buggers that I do not like."

I have surmised, based solely on the picture provided, that the reason you do not like this item is because it is made of the following:

bug parts
cashews
tin foil
aged cheese

11/30/2010 1:41:39 PM

prob use rose water.

11/30/2010 1:43:05 PM

There's an Indian bakery right down the street from me. I'm tempted to go in but am totally intimidated by the fact I have no idea what anything is

11/30/2010 1:48:12 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_sweets_and_desserts

11/30/2010 2:04:30 PM

^^^^ that looks like Saffron, the most expensive spice in the world.

11/30/2010 2:08:54 PM

Gulab Jamun is the fucking shit


Greek rice pudding is better

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11/30/2010 2:10:54 PM

you guise are mental and need some indian friends!

11/30/2010 2:13:16 PM

Jilebi is fucking NASTY. It's like funnel cake that's been soaking in honey. I love sweets, but Jesus Christ, it's like diabetes freebase.

I get sent a box of stuff from Eros every Chrstmas, though, and that shit is delicious.

11/30/2010 2:14:21 PM

Quote :

"7 Sitabhog Milk-based 8 Lyangcha Milk-based 9 Jal-bhora Milk-based 10 Kadapak Milk-based 11 Abar-khabo Milk-based"

Yes, that Wikipedia list helps so much

11/30/2010 2:19:27 PM

My favorite of all-time. I'm half middle-eastern and grew up eating this stuff.

Burfi.

11/30/2010 2:20:46 PM

What does burfi taste like?

Do Indian people eat halva? I love me some halva

11/30/2010 2:21:20 PM

yo wolfpackgrr outline a weekly meal planner for me. you seem to eat the best food on the wolfweb

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11/30/2010 2:27:23 PM

I love this middle eastern dessert harissa

11/30/2010 2:27:32 PM

thats konebred nigga

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11/30/2010 2:28:26 PM

haha this thread is a sad reminder of why i am a fattie.

11/30/2010 2:28:48 PM

don't feel bad i just ate like 2 and half peices of baklava for breakfast

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

11/30/2010 2:30:46 PM

Quote :

"yo wolfpackgrr outline a weekly meal planner for me. you seem to eat the best food on the wolfweb"

haha sadly my week mostly consists of bacon sandwiches for breakfast, whatever I find around the office for lunch, and more sandwiches for dinner

11/30/2010 2:33:49 PM

I'm pretty sure none of the non-European descent countries have good sweets.
WTH is wrong with brownies, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, or a MF'in Snickers bar that makes you want to go eat this junk:

Jalebi


Gulab Jamun


Rice Pudding

11/30/2010 2:37:33 PM

i only go as far east as baklava.

11/30/2010 2:37:48 PM

Hey now, Swedish rice pudding is delicious

11/30/2010 2:38:07 PM

Quote :

"I'm pretty sure none of the non-European descent countries have good sweets. WTH is wrong with brownies, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, or a MF'in Snickers bar that makes you want to go eat this junk"

11/30/2010 2:39:57 PM

What kind of halwa are you talking about? There's a few kinds, but my favorite is Suji Halwa. It's made of semolina and looks like this:


It has a very creamy texture, like eating cream of wheat almost. But is sweet and VERY good.

Burfi tastes kinda like a much denser version of Suji Halwa.

Kheer...omg..dont get me started on that stuff. It's teh win.

[Edited on November 30, 2010 at 2:44 PM. Reason : .]

11/30/2010 2:42:27 PM

Sometimes I hit the buffet for a second round of kheer when I'm at Tandoor on NC-55.

11/30/2010 2:52:00 PM

I'm talking about this stuff:

11/30/2010 2:54:19 PM

Quote :

"I have surmised, based solely on the picture provided, that the reason you do not like this item is because it is made of the following: bug parts cashews tin foil Aged cheese "

Hahahaha

11/30/2010 3:32:29 PM

This thread is making me hongry.

Quote :

"WTH is wrong with brownies, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, or a MF'in Snickers bar "

Haha, really?

That shit is poison compared with the more natural Indian and Middle-Eastern treats...
(And people have different tastes, perhaps better than yours... )

Quote :

"In my opinion, Indian sweets do not taste very good. There's a soapy taste and a perfume taste mixed in with the sweetness. I don't know how they're made so I can't begin to guess what ingredient contributes these unpleasant flavors."

Quote :

"prop use rose water."

-punchmonk

Ding! Ding! Ding! I do believe that rose water is the source of foul taste.

11/30/2010 3:48:50 PM

Well I'll be damned, after googling it I believe punchmonk is 100% right. These well-intentioned but awful desserts do contain rose water. The other word that had come to mind when I was trying to describe the taste earlier was "floral". I had no idea roses were used in food.

11/30/2010 4:00:12 PM

gajar halwa is good but i guess it isn't particularly desserty

[Edited on November 30, 2010 at 4:03 PM. Reason : ]

11/30/2010 4:03:02 PM

Quote :

"And people have different tastes, perhaps better than yours..."

Not likely.

Quote :

"i only go as far east as baklava"

That's probably a relatively safe extension of the line of demarcation. I can get down with a baklava from Neomonde or Bosphorous every once in a while.

11/30/2010 4:32:33 PM

^
Sorry man, you admitted to liking nasty yellow cake. Game over.

11/30/2010 4:33:56 PM

I usually have to think really hard when I need to decide whether to use "baklava" or "balaclava".

It's sad, really.

11/30/2010 4:34:31 PM

[Words], but those with an interest in India, food, or desserts will appreciate it.

That silver/shiny layer on Indian desserts really is silver foil. It is extremely thin, less than 1/100 mm. Sometimes you will find gold foil, but mostly silver foil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varak has more info, and the fact that a lot of it is contaminated with aluminum or even cadmium, so it is best to stay away from it. (no problem if it is pure silver, as it should be)

I have probably had the most Indian desserts of anybody here, but I really don't like them in general. Commercially made ones are either too sweet (sitting/bathed/cooked in sugar syrup) or too greasy, usually both. (as are Arab/Middle Eastern sweets) They have a good concept/background, but the way they are executed is fucked up.

Even when I was living at home, dessert was not something we had frequently, perhaps once a month. Heck, my mom probably baked more cakes [Betty Crocker ] than the number of times she made South Asian desserts. And for the last 15 or so years, I have an Indian dessert probably 2-3 times a year (never buy it on my own).

Here are the ones I like, but only if my mom or I make made them, in no particular order:

1) Rasmalai - balls of 'paneer' (Indian curd cheese) cooked in milk and sugar. Commercial ones are not too sweet (the only one?) because the balls themselves are not sweet, they are just sitting in sugared milk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasmalai

2) Carrot (gajar) halwa. Commercial ones are usually disgustingly greasy and sweet, and not milky enough, and/or not creamy/moist enough. My mom makes an awesome one, and she has made it from red carrots a couple of times, and that looks awesome. I grew up on it. A similar one is made from a certain member of the squash family which is pale green in color, and that one is surprisingly nice as well.

3) Sooji (semolina) halwa. Think of it as sweetened couscous (and sometimes raisins and nuts), pressed into a pan to dry, and then cut up into small bricks. Sometimes served quite moist and unset. Miss it... haven't had it for many many years... very easy to make, so I should make it! There is a variation with mashed bananas in it as well, and that one is to die for! Fun trivia: The only time I had the variation with banana was one made by a [white] math grad student with a proper beard at a Math Graduate Department get-together at NCSU in 2001 ... and I couldn't stop eating it!!!

4) Kheer (rice pudding) is OK if made the proper Indian way (too runny, at least the ones I have had); European versions are far superior, and some of the best desserts out there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kheer

5) Falooda - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falooda

6) Halwas/barfis made from ground lentils or ground chickpeas, and formed into moist bricks are also nice.

7) Seviyan - Vermicelli cooked in milk with sugar. I love this one... it is awesome, I basically grew up on it.

8) Kaju (cashew) or Pista (pistachio) or Badam (almond) Barfi/Katli - My mom used to make it a lot when I was little. It was not as sweet as the commercial ones, and had no added oil/fat unlike the commercial ones. Considering it is basically nut paste that is cooked and shaped into bricks, it doesn't need added fat. Commercial ones also usually contain milk, so the nut taste is diluted... at home it was just ground nuts cooked with some sugar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaju_Katli and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaju_barfi

9) Agar - Not an Indian dessert per se, but quite popular there due to influence from Chinese/Japanese cuisine. Agar is a gel-like substance derived from sea weeds (yes, the same stuff used to grow cultures in a petri dish). It is cut into strips and dried. You boil the strips in water till they dissolve, and then add sugar and other ingredients such as fruits, beans, etc., put it in molds and let it solidify (refrigerate). An Asian jelly, if you wish, but very different from and much nicer than the Jell-o junk. Way nicer texture and mouth feel as well. In India, however, they boil the strips in milk (and sugar), which ends up making sort of a milk jelly. After it sets in a large flat dish, you cut it into cubes or diamond shapes. For some reason, it is called China Grass in India (obvious, why, I guess). Agar is all-natural, and has essential minerals and has lots of soluble fiber, and practically no calories. My mom used to add different food colors (red, blue, green, orange, etc) and it used to look nice... one of the neatest ideas ever was pouring the hot cooked mixture into empty egg shells (make a small hole on the narrow end and force the egg out). When they were set, she would crack the egg shells and we would have "eggs of colored milk jelly"! This looks EXACTLY like how I grew up eating it: http://www.chillimix.com/indian-recipe/sweets-desserts/china-grass-agar-agar-pudding.html ... do a GIS with "china grass" and agar as well. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar#Culinary



Man, I really miss China grass... last time I had it was in 2001 when I made it for an International Student get-together at NCSU at the dorm on Hillsboro Street (North?). I must make some soon!

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11/30/2010 8:00:50 PM

I have probably had the most Indian desserts of anybody here

11/30/2010 8:01:40 PM

Aside from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_sweets_and_desserts

There is also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_sweets

And
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Indian_desserts

And
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categoryakistani_desserts

Now to answer some questions, correct some misconceptions and offer some counter-opinions:

Quote :

"hell no. some are abs delicious. for example: Jalebi"

One of the NASTIEST things out there .

Quote :

"Gulab Jamun"

Good concept, but always too sweet. I mean, it is sitting in sugar syrup.

Quote :

"Whenever I find myself at an Indian buffet I try something, but I've never really found anything I thoroughly enjoyed."

Commercial ones are not good, even at restaurants. Perhaps an Indian restaurant in a 5* star hotel would have good ones, but forget the rest.

Quote :

"I have never seen these food items at an Indian restaurant."

Duh, because as it is obvious from this thread, Americans don't really like them. In South Asian and even Middle Eastern countries, they are everywhere, even on street stalls.

Quote :

"prob use rose water."

Yup, rose water, orange water, and "flower water". I love rose water, if it really is water with rose oil/extract (the real stuff), not artificially flavored/perfumed water.

Quote :

"What does burfi taste like?"

Like compacted very sweetened condensed milk, because that's what it is! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barfi

Quote :

"Do Indian people eat halva?"

Not the halwa (sesame) you are thinking of. That's found in Arab and Mediterranean countries.

Quote :

"I love this middle eastern dessert harissa"

I have had that all my life, but have never seen that name. It has always been called "basbousa" or sometimes "nammoura" where I am. Turns out, it is called "harissa" in Arab countries of the Levant. Yes, it is nice, but again, usually too sweet because of the sugar syrup it comes bathed in.

Quote :

"don't feel bad i just ate like 2 and half peices of baklava for breakfast"

Baklava is amazing if done well, but in most places, just OK. Have you had "kunafah"? It is the best Arab dessert for me, especially when it is served hot so the cheese inside gets all stringy. The version with cream inside is also very nice, and that's best served cold. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanafeh

Quote :

"I'm pretty sure none of the non-European descent countries have good sweets."

That's a very strong statement. Are you saying not a single non-White country has even one good dessert? I do agree that in general

Western desserts >>>>>>>> Eastern desserts.

You also have to consider that typically desserts are not consumed traditionally in non-White countries. Usually only one special occasions and festivals. And they (Indian desserts) are usually made of ingredients that are used to make their savory foods as well, such as flour, milk, cheese, certain vegetables, beans, lentils, etc., and that is one of the reasons Western people might not find them appetizing.

Quote :

"WTH is wrong with brownies, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, or a MF'in Snickers bar that makes you want to go eat this junk:"

Now you are just being a xenophobe and a moron. There is lots I could say to point out the racism and idiocy in that statement, but I think it is plain to see.

One of the 'junk's in the picture is rice pudding. Rice pudding has been consumed as a traditional dessert (and even as a dinner in Nordic countries!) in white people's countries all over Europe for several centuries. So now we can add 'ignorant' to xenophobe and moron. You decry rice pudding as junk because it comes from a non-European country according to you, when the fact is that it has been a traditional dessert in European countries for many centuries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_Pudding

Quote :

"That shit is poison compared with the more natural Indian and Middle-Eastern treats..."

Yes, more natural due to a lack of artificial colors and flavors, but just as bad for your health. Most South Asian and Arab desserts are basically made from white flour, tons of butter/ghee, and tons of sugar. And if you think about it, originally, Western desserts were also natural, but due to industrialization and advances in food technology, they are full of colors and flavors now. Similarly, a many Indian desserts have food color added to them these days, when made in factories.

11/30/2010 8:01:44 PM

Quote :

"i love these little bastards"

I, too, love those little bastards.

...and damn, I want some indian food now.

11/30/2010 8:05:15 PM

so… theDuke loves balls in his mouth.

11/30/2010 8:08:12 PM

Quote :

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categoryakistani_desserts"

I chuckled.

11/30/2010 8:24:18 PM