Sour sweets compliment Indian meals

Dining out at an Indian restaurant is a much-loved pastime of many Brits. Indian food is so popular that it has become ingrained in British culture with the famous British-Indian dish 'Chicken Tikka Masala' being a national favourite on par with fish and chips. Less popular with the British palate are traditional Indian desserts. Indian desserts tend to be made from rice flour, sugar and the Indian butter fat 'gee'. Some desserts also contain nuts and spices. For western tastes, Indian desserts can seem too floury, too sugary and surprisingly for a cuisine of incredibly rich and flavoursome foods, too bland. Indian desserts are an acquired taste for most westerners and so it is of little surprise that of those who do order dessert at an Indian restaurant, most order western desserts such as ice cream or fruit.

Western desserts tend to be very sugary themselves but the sugar is blended with other flavours and textures and melted down to give a more pleasing taste for western palates. Western desserts also tend to be very rich in fruity and chocolaty flavours an can be sugary or tart to taste. Citrus fruits such as oranges and citrus fruit flavoured desserts are a popular choice to complement a meal at an Indian restaurant. The tartness of citrus fruits seems to counter the rich and spicy flavours of Indian curries perfectly. Many restaurants even provide complimentary orange segments to their customers at the end of a meal. A favourite amongst fans of citrusy desserts are Sour sweets. These delicious treats can leave a tart taste in the mouth almost like sucking on a lemon dipped in sugar. Extremely tart varieties can even make a person's face look like they've been sucking on a lemon. Perhaps this is why tart and citrusy desserts are a perfect accompaniment to spicy Indian dishes.

The great thing about citrus fruits is that they are the strongest and most recognisable flavours to add to foods. Lemon or lime is often used in Indian cooking with lime pickle being a very popular spicy and tart chutney that is eaten with poppadoms as a pre-dinner snack in most Indian restaurants. Another great thing about tangy citrus flavours is that foods containing them are far more likely to contain entirely natural ingredients simply because they do not require any flavour enhancements to create great tasting foods. The same can be said of Indian cooking which uses a wide range of natural fresh and dried herbs and spices to create great tasting dishes. Indian cuisine is far healthier than most British dishes that are high in saturated fats and low in vitamins and minerals. Indian foods on the other hand are packed full of vitamins and minerals; although British foods can redeem themselves a little by producing delicious tangy and citrusy desserts that contain vitamins and natural ingredients. So in this context at least, eating a tart western dessert to complete an Indian meal can be argued to be a healthy option.