
5

"I learned that an ice cream and chai shop is set to open this summer in Park-Ex at 787A de Liège Ouest, run by Deexit and Aakruti Patel, who plan reasonably priced scoops, pints, soft-serve, chai and Indian-inspired pastries. Their flavours draw directly from Indian desserts: gulab jamun and jalebi (both studded with bits of the sweets and finished with a homemade cardamom-saffron syrup), falooda with rose syrup and sweet basil seed, elaichi pista with cardamom and pistachio, and mango rasmalai combining mango with a creamy, pistachio- and saffron-infused milk sweet; they also developed a Masala Chai ice cream topped with Parle-G biscuits and sell pints and artfully decorated ice-cream cakes. The concept grew out of their Tiffin Montreal catering experience and strong family support — Aakruti’s brother created the retro-Indian branding and their mothers have helped source specialty ingredients and contributed recipes such as Champa’s khaman." - Ivy Lerner-Frank