CHOCOLATE WITH INDIAN APHRODISIACS

We live in an age of marketing, advertising and endemic consumerism, and Valentine’s Day has been transported into that universe of excessively hyped holidays. I am tired of deleting Valentine’s Day promotions from my inbox, and the papers are full of advertisements for jewellery. (Rub it in, why don’t you!) Let’s face it: Valentine’s Day is no longer just for lovers, and we are all victims of the times. (And that’s my excuse for the fact that I still look forward to it!) Since my husband hogs the corner on sarcasm and eye-rolling on that day anyway, I must compensate with a healthy dose of sentimentality and extravagance! Plus, I’m always looking for an excuse to cook up something new and exotic.

So this year, as a surprise, I am cooking up chocolate recipes with Indian aphrodisiacs. “Chocolate”: Just saying the word conjures up visions of warm, gooey, dark, velvety, oozy decadence! Aphrodisiacs are named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, fruitfulness and beauty. Foods that are considered aphrodisiac are purported to put one in the mood for love. I don’t really subscribe to this notion, because I believe that the most powerful aphrodisiac is the human mind. But India is the land of the Kama Sutra, an ancient scripture on love and pleasure that, besides instructing in the art of love, highlights the role of food in keeping the body, mind and spirit invigorated. And we have Bollywood, one of the largest centres of film production in the world, which has churned out a wealth of romance movies allowing a largely conservative society to vicariously enjoy all the vicissitudes of love in the darkness of a theatre. With tropes like dancing around trees and flowers kissing in the breeze serving as substitutes for kissing and lovemaking scenes, it’s little wonder that the Indian imagination has attributed aphrodisiacal properties to everything from garlic (believe it or not), dates, honey, chilies and almonds to saffron and spices.

What could be better than a cup of creamy hot chocolate spiked with chili to start things off (or conclude them with!)? Legend has it that the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II enjoyed a chocolate drink, flavoured with vanilla and spices, up to 50 times a day to give him the potency to handle his numerous wives! Nothing turns up the heat like chilies (pun partly intended). By increasing our heart rate, chilies are believed to inflame the senses and aid in the building up of passion. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (Straight From the Heart), a classic Bollywood romance, provides an ironic illustration of this when the heroine, played by the exquisite Indian actress Aishwarya Rai, digs into a plate of chilies to spite her lovelorn husband. Only the viewers know that her dashing lover, from whom she was forcibly separated, performed the same act of passionate masochism in front of her. In a culture where sexual passion is possible only behind closed doors or symbolically, these onscreen scenes celebrate and evoke secret passions.

I went to boarding school, and an all-girls one at that, not far from the sand dunes of the Rajasthan desert mecca of Pushkar. Thankfully for us, there was an all-boys boarding school nearby. Romance consisted of shyly written love letters and little gifts. Ferrero Rochers – compact, delicately wrapped and oh so delectable to the chocolate-starved boarding-school palate – were prized gifts saved for proposals, apologies and true teenage love. Given all that Ferrero Rochers meant to us then, I feel that it’s poetic justice to say “I love you” with my own interpretation of these nutty treats: pomegranate-pistachio “ferreros.” The pomegranate, or “anar” as we call it in India, is a symbol of love, fertility and prosperity, and its juice, flesh and seeds are ubiquitous in our cuisine. Ayurveda prescribes what may just be one of the simplest cures for the loss of sexual desire: pomegranate seeds.

In India, Valentine’s Day is a Western import that has made a controversial but pervasive entry into Indian life. It is also a great day to muse about the tempestuous side of love, a theme that Bollywood has immortalized. Case in point: Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, a Romeo-and-Juliet classic starring Aamir Khan. My saffron, rose, pistachio and white-chocolate “salami” is an Indian version of an Italian classic – a befitting metaphor for the dark side of love. Too much love can kill you, and so can too much saffron. But in the right dose, this prized spice is believed to be a potent aphrodisiac – like love.

Chilli Spiked Hot Chocolate Recipe

Saffron, Rose and Pistachio White Chocolate Salami Recipe

Pomegranate Pistachio ‘Ferreros’ Recipe

Photography by Mrigank Sharma