AN Indian foods specialist based in Dewsbury is hoping to curry flavour with retailers.

Curry Cuisine has enlisted support from Sheffield Hallam University to put a range of new products on the supermarket shelves.

The firm called in the university's food and design experts to help develop a range of fruity dessert sauces, made using combinations of spices used in Indian cooking.

A major retailer is now set to stock three flavours – Strawberry & Mint, Mango, Cardamon & Ginger and Kiwi & Lime in its stores from next year.

The Scrummee dessert sauces, which also come in Plum & Star Anise, Cherry Chocolate & Chilli, Rhubarb, Lemongrass & Ginger, can be used as toppings for a range of desserts.

Paresh Tejura, who runs Curry Cuisine, applied for a £2,500 innovation voucher from Kirklees Council to provide some financial help for his new products.

He then approached the team at Sheffield Hallam University’s Centre for Food Innovation and Innovation Futures, who were able to provide technical and nutritional know-how on the products to help develop them for the retail market.

Experts from the university's in-house consultancy, Design Futures, created the packaging for the products, which are already being sold locally and were on sale at The Great Yorkshire Show.

Said Paresh: “People might not associate Indian food with dessert sauces.

“However, this new range uses spices such as cardamon, lemongrass and mint which are commonly used in Indian cooking.

“These sauces are classic cooking combinations, but are used in a new and exciting way.

“We believe we have developed a product with real ‘oomph’ and we wouldn't have been able to develop these products as effectively without the university's food and design expertise.

“With their help, we have been able to add and invigorate a forgotten category on the shelves.'"

Senior sensory technician Emma Johnson, of the Centre for Food Innovation at Sheffield Hallam, said: “We were able to develop Paresh's exciting new products using our state-of-the-art food testing and sensory laboratories.

“We have used these facilities to work with a variety of clients. We were delighted to help springboard Scrummee to the supermarket shelves.”