If I were to review all the Indian restaurants in the UK, I would have one common complaint – a lack of  choice and imagination in the desserts menu. Of all the delicious sweets from every region of the country, you can only find the typical Gulab Jamun, Kulfi, Rice Kheer with the occasional Carrot Halva and Rasmalai!

Traditionally, desserts were served along with the main course which meant they could be lost in the multitude of savoury dishes, their sweetness masked by the spicy bite you could have after. With people now preferring to eat their meals as separate courses, the Indian dessert often comes across as over-poweringly sweet. So maybe, it is time to start thinking about them as part of a plate of dessert, where the other elements on the plate help balance the flavours and make it more interesting to the diner.

Over the next few days, I am going to attempt to do just that – re-create some traditional sweets and plate them up in a whole new way.

I start today with the simple Pineapple sheera.