How popular is Chocolate in Pakistani Desserts?
The Sub-continent culture of Pakistan and India has a special place for food. Every occasion has its own special cuisine with a unique history. Take biryani for example, this richly layered dish of rice and meat originated thousands of years back in the courts of Mughal Kings and is still very much part of every Pakistani and Indian household. In desserts, traditional kheer, which is made of milk, nuts and sugar, is quite popular equally among young and old. Kheer is a staple dish that is served especially on special occasions and usually takes 24 hours to prepare. Most traditional desserts in this part of the world consist of milk or cream bases such as Kalakand, Barfi.
Traditional Kheer. Image courtesy: https://www.pakladies.com/coconut-kheer-pakistani-recipe/
When it comes to international desserts, chocolate is hugely popular. Especially among the urban young crowd who will give preference to chocolate over any other traditional mithai or sweet. However, chocolate is usually imported in Pakistan and international brands such as Hershey, Dairy Milk or KitKat among other popular types are usually found in high-end grocery stores. Pakistan does not grow cacao and doesn't export chocolate goods. However, things might change as the Pakastani dessert market and chocolate confectionery business is rapidly growing and has actually grown to 60 million US dollars from 40 million US dollars in 2014.
Imported chocolates are usually on the expensive side for the average Pakistani hence only limited numbers of the local crowd get to enjoy chocolates on a regular basis. There are local popular brands as well as small dessert makers that are creating their own niche and are gaining a place in the market. But they are very small and do not pose a threat to the international chocolate brands as they lag behind when it comes to quality and brand awareness.
Types of chocolates that are enjoyed in Pakistan are mostly varieties of milk chocolate. Pakistani people like their candies sweet and rarely opt for dark chocolate. Milk chocolate is usually the go to chocolate for preparing chocolate dessert. Santa Barbara Chocolate is happy to share that we have shipped our Rio Tigre Milk Chocolate on a few occasions to Pakistan for use in desserts being presented at weddings.
Speaking of Pakistani chocolate desserts, there is one chocolate which is recently gaining a household name for being delicious and easy to make. This chocolate dessert is known as chocolate Éclair in the colloquial language. It might have originated from some other chocolate loving country but the dessert is finding a sweet home in Pakistan’s households as well. Want to give the Pakistani version of Chocolate Éclair a try? The Chocolate Éclair recipe is below:
Most Popular Dessert in Pakistan with Chocolate is Chocolate Éclair.
Image courtesy: Karachi chefs at home
Recipe for Pakistan Desserts Chocolate Éclair:
Ingredients:
1. Gourmet milk chocolate – 7 oz (200 gr)
2. Coffee 1 teaspoon
3. Cream 2 cups (400 ml) + ½ cup (100 ml) for topping
4. Vanilla pudding or plain egg pudding 1 sachet
5. Milk 2 cups ( egg pudding or creme caramel )
6. Tea cookies 2 half rolls
7. Crushed nuts or chocolate for garnish
Directions:
1. In a heatproof bowl, microwave cream, chocolate, and coffee together for 1-2 minutes. Mix well. Alternately, you can use a double boiler to melt cream, chocolate, and coffee.
2. Take 2 cups milk and bring it to boil, add pudding sachet and mix well. Set aside.
3. In a dish, place a layer of crispy cookies. Top it with half of the warm pudding, then top with 1/3rd of the chocolate mixture. Pour in a zig zag pattern to create the design.
4. Layer with cookies, pudding and the remaining chocolate mixture. Completely cover the top with chocolate mixture.
5. Whip 1/2 cup cream for 3-4 minutes till soft peaks are formed.
6. Top the chocolate mixture with whipped cream, and garnish with nuts and grated chocolate.
7. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Recipe courtesy: Karachi Chefs at Home
Go ahead and try this dessert, and as you can see, it’s easy. Please let us know how you like it in the comments section or on our social media.
Reference & Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kheer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalakand
https://www.euromonitor.com/chocolate-confectionery-in-pakistan/report
https://www.dawn.com/news/1309859
https://www.santabarbarachocolate.com/chocolatier-jason-vishnefske/