Chef of the Week: Sumant Sharma, Executive Pastry Chef at Musaafer Houston & NYC

1. You’ve spoken about wanting to redefine Indian pastry on the global stage. What do you think is still misunderstood about Indian sweets and desserts in the international culinary world?

Yes, Indian sweets are often seen as overly sweet or simplistic, but in reality, they’re a science of balance and regional artistry. Each mithai has a purpose — it’s culture, medicine, and celebration woven together. My goal is to show the world the finesse of Indian confectionery by recreating textures and using Ayurvedic ingredients to achieve harmony rather than heaviness.

2. When you design a new dessert, what comes first: the flavor, the story, or the emotion you want to evoke?

For me, it always begins with emotion. I come from a humble farming family where food was an expression of love and care — that emotion is the foundation of everything I create. Each dessert starts with a feeling, a memory, a season, a fragrance, or a moment of nostalgia.

From that emotion, the story unfolds. The story gives purpose and direction — it could be a childhood memory, a regional tradition, or even a forgotten ingredient that deserves a voice. Once the story takes shape, it naturally leads me to the flavor — because flavor is the universal language that allows people to feel that same emotion, no matter where they come from.

I start with emotion — a memory, a fragrance, a feeling — and then build flavor and form around it.

So in my creative process, emotion is the seed, story is the root, and flavor is the flower — together they create a connection that goes beyond taste and becomes an experience.

3. At Musaafer, you state that every dessert carries “memory, meaning, and purpose.” Could you walk us through one specific dessert currently on your menu and detail how you use texture, spice, and presentation to convey its regional Indian narrative?

Although every dessert on Musaafer’s menu carries its own memory, story, meaning, and purpose, I’ll take the Rasmalai as an example. It’s one of India’s most beloved sweets, deeply tied to celebration and comfort. Traditionally, it’s soft Indian cottage cheese (chenna) dumplings soaked in cardamom-scented milk — rich, aromatic, and nostalgic. My goal was to preserve that soul but present it as a modern sensory journey that even someone unfamiliar with Indian desserts could connect to.

I grew up in the Braj region of North India, where Rasmalai is often offered as prasad — a holy temple sweet. I wanted this dessert to evoke that same feeling of warmth and festivity. In my version, it becomes a dialogue between tradition and innovation — a tribute to India’s dairy culture and culinary science.

To make it lighter, tastier, and healthier, I reworked its textures and ingredients using local and seasonal produce. The sponge is delicate and porous, soaked in saffron- and cardamom-infused milk from Blackwood Farm in Texas. A strawberry–lime compote adds freshness, an almond whipped ganache brings silkiness, and strawberry chocolate ripples add visual rhythm and a crisp sweetness.

Spices here serve both flavor and function — cardamom and saffron warm the senses, while lime and berry add a cooling balance, reflecting Ayurvedic harmony between ushna (warm) and sheetal (cool) elements.

Visually, it’s minimalist and refined, yet the first bite takes you home. For me, that’s what Musaafer is about — transforming memory into experience, and retelling India’s regional stories through the language of modern pastry.

4. You have worked in distinct luxury markets: India, the Middle East, Singapore, and the US. Could you compare the fine dining expectations for dessert across these four regions? Specifically, how do the local diners’ sensibilities differ regarding sweetness levels, portion size, and ingredient familiarity when approaching modern Indian pastry?

India craves nostalgia — guests look for refined versions of familiar flavors that connect to memory and tradition. In the Middle East, diners celebrate richness — they enjoy depth, honey, nuts, and aromatic warmth.

Singapore values balance and precision — light, well-structured desserts with subtle sweetness and clean presentation. And in the U.S. I found the true love and respect to the pastry world – diners seek storytelling — they want to understand the meaning behind what’s on the plate, to connect emotionally through flavor and narrative.

At Musaafer, I design with emotional storytelling at the core, using balanced sweetness, texture, and spice to resonate across all these sensibilities — bridging cultures while keeping the heart of Indian pastry alive.

5. You prioritize using natural sweeteners like jaggery, honey, and Nolen gur over refined sugar. What is the single biggest technical challenge you face when making these substitutions (e.g., crystallization, texture loss, moisture retention), and what modern technique do you use to overcome it?

The biggest challenge is moisture control and crystallization. Natural sweeteners behave differently under heat — jaggery caramelizes faster, and honey attracts moisture. To stabilize these ingredients, I use vacuum reduction and temperature-controlled cooking to retain their aroma without burning.

I also use pâté de fruit–style reduction and glucose balancing to achieve smoothness and structure while keeping the flavor authentic.

6. If you had to introduce someone new to Indian sweets, what three desserts would you start with — and why?

 If I had to introduce someone new to Indian sweets, I would start with Mishti Doi, Rasmalai, and Gulab Jamun. These three desserts connect the entire country through a shared sweet culture — they’re celebrated and relished from the north to the south, east to west.

These three desserts are a showcase of how we Indians have celebrated and transformed milk in countless ways. Each represents not only an emotional connection but also the deep culinary science behind traditional Indian confectionery.

•  Mishti Doi showcases the process of fermentation — the natural transformation of milk into something rich and probiotic.
• Rasmalai demonstrates the delicate curdling of milk — the separation of fat and water to create soft, spongy textures (chenna) balanced with aromatic milk.
• Gulab Jamun reflects the art of evaporation, dehydration, frying, and soaking, achieving that melt-in-the-mouth texture with a liquid center.

Together, they tell a story of India’s emotional warmth, technical brilliance, and centuries-old understanding of food science — a perfect introduction to the soul of Indian sweets.

7. What’s a pastry technique or ingredient from Indian tradition that you think deserves more global recognition?

Ksheer Pak (slow cooking) — the ancient slow-cooking of milk until it transforms in flavor and texture. It’s the foundation of many Indian sweets and predates techniques like reduction or caramelization in Western pastry. The patience and aroma development in this process are unmatched — it’s time, temperature, and devotion coming together as flavor.

I believe it’s a combination of all three, but most importantly, it reflects a deeper appreciation of India’s regional diversity and its emotional connection to food. For a long time, Indian cuisine was seen through a narrow lens — limited to a few popular dishes. But now, chefs across the world are telling stories of their regions, communities, and memories through refined techniques and modern presentations, without losing authenticity.

Indian cuisine is no longer just tasted — it’s being understood as an art of emotion, memory, and cultural storytelling.

This rise shows that global diners are ready to understand the science, artistry, and philosophy behind Indian food — how every spice has purpose, every technique carries history, and every dessert has emotion. It’s no longer just about flavors; it’s about cultural storytelling. Indian cuisine has always been vast and sophisticated; now it’s finally being recognized as such on the global stage.

9. How do you mentor young chefs in your team, especially when teaching the philosophy behind Indian pastry?

As my pastry program is deeply modern and innovative Indian, I don’t face challenges in terms of cuisine. But in general, I have no room for diplomacy in my kitchen — I believe that when you truly care for your work, your work will take care of you. I teach my young chefs to cook with soul, not just skill — to treat the kitchen as their own home, with ownership and responsibility.

Care for your work, and your work will take care of you.

Anyone can follow a recipe, but true mastery begins when you understand the why behind every tradition. I make them question every ingredient, every flame, every aroma and science behind: Why did our ancestors slow-cook milk for hours? Why churn it under the open winter sky? Why does sweetness carry emotion? Why toast almonds in winter and soak them in summer? Why choose jaggery over refined sugar?

Once they begin to find those answers, technique transforms into instinct, and creation becomes philosophy. I tell them: don’t just make dessert — create meaning. Indian pastry isn’t merely sugar and milk; it’s a dialogue between heritage, culture, and heart.

Technique is the body, but philosophy is the soul. That’s what I teach every young chef in my team.

10. For home cooks — one technique (no special gear required) that instantly elevates their cooking.

For home cooks, one ancient technique that instantly elevates Indian sweets is Ksheer Pak Vidhi — the slow, mindful reduction of milk. It’s the foundation of countless traditional confections, from peda to kheer. When milk is gently simmered over time, its natural sugars caramelize, deepening sweetness and texture without any additives.

In Ayurveda, this process isn’t just cooking — it’s transformation. Milk absorbs the energy of patience, rhythm, and warmth, developing ojas — vitality and purity. This slow reduction reminds us that great Indian confectionery is born not from speed or gadgets, but from time, care, and intention. In every spoonful, you can taste serenity.”

11. Finally — if you could be remembered for one dessert, what would it be and why?

If I could be remembered for one dessert, it would be my reinterpretation of Rasmalai — because it represents everything I believe in. The most important thing for me is when a creation brings joy to someone, and this dessert has earned me the greatest compliment personally: a true recipe, I believe, is one that makes the peoples soul happy.

It’s rooted in nostalgia yet reborn through innovation. I took the essence of Rasmalai — milk, saffron, and cardamom — and reimagined it with lighter textures, Ayurvedic superfoods, and locally sourced ingredients.

Each dessert I create is not just a dish — it’s a journey between tradition and today.

For me, it’s more than a dessert; it’s a bridge between tradition and tomorrow — between the Rasmalai I grew up with in India and the one I now create for the world. It carries recreation-lighter, innovation-tastier, well-being-healthier — the three pillars of my pastry philosophy.

Chef’s Sharma Rasmalai Recipe

Chef Sumant Sharma | Instagram | Facebook
Musaafer | Instagram
Suite C-3500, 5115 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77056