Do Valentine's Day your own way with chai spice truffles
Valentine's Day can throw the best of us into a wild panic. How to show the one you love the way you feel without succumbing to clichés? You know what I mean - booking a table at a romantic restaurant for the set steak dinner with a side of heavy breathing couples, or buying a bunch of roses on the way home. Always lovely, but never original.
Best to avoid both, in my opinion. What everyone wants is to feel like they're being thought about or cared for. For me, making something for someone does exactly that because it's a simple act of love. It need not be a pudding flambé or an Eiffel Tower-high croquembouche, just something special.
These chai spiced chocolate truffles are perfect. They are dark and dense orbs made using good quality 70 percent dark chocolate infused with cream and the gorgeous sweet spices ordinarily used in chai, including ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. They can be made in advance, then refrigerated, leaving you more time to spend with your loved one. They are perfect eaten after dinner and with a little dessert wine, or just nibbled slowly all by themselves.
They don't just have to be for your partner, either. Valentine's Day is fast becoming a time to appreciate everyone you love - father, mother, siblings and friends.
• Meera Sodha is an Indian foods expert and author of "Made in India: Recipes from an Indian family kitchen."