At Kookie Jar, these sumptuous chocolates spiced up with chilli and basil leaves are made on request by Lovey Burman (below) ; Pix by Rashbehari Das

Excuse me, is that what I think it is?” The words slip out almost abruptly as I sink my teeth into a luscious piece of chocolate truffle and a curious flavour hits the throat. Long after the creamy ganache of the truffle has burst and melted into the mouth, traces of cinnamon linger on along with the bitter-sweet taste of the dark chocolate shell.

Yes, you read it right. Cinnamon and chocolate. A strange combination but a winning one at that.

Chocolate snobs, look away. The alchemists of chocolate are doling out pounds of chocolate dressed up along with the unusual. Bite this (literally too): spices and herbs, fruits and vegetables are sneaking their way into the very core of truffles in all their milk, white and dark incarnations. For when you are perpetually on the chocolate run, it becomes imperative to experiment.

Chocolatier Sanjiv Obhrai gets berries from Afghanistan and combines them with cognac to produce exotic creations; Pix by Jagan Negi

Working out of his tiny boutique in Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park area, chocolatier Sanjiv Obhrai whisks the traditional Beng-ali sweet ingredient of nolen gur (treacle honey) into the brown molten mass of chocolate that he fashions into truffles. He even likes to make them savoury by sprinkling in chillies, cloves and nutmeg. Depending upon the chocolate base he uses, Obhrai prices a kilo between Rs 500 (Belgian chocolate) and Rs 5,000 (it climbs as high for the Valrhona).

Brainard Colaco (below), the chef at Mocha, presents a series of chilli chocolate shots ; Pix by Gajanan Dudhalkar

“The idea is to not let it overwhelm the senses,” says Lovey Burman, proprietor of Calcutta’s modish confectionery, Kookie Jar. She spices up her offerings only on request. Top on her list are ingredients such as ginger, de-seeded green chillies and fresh basil leaves. She cooks them in sugar syrup at times to take off the extra zing. Most Indians are accustomed to the distinct flavours of cardamom in the neighbourhood halwai’s milky sweets, but now it is adding a subtle touch in couverture chocolates (the pure form of chocolate used by chocolatiers).

At times the inspiration comes from across the seas. At Choko La, an international chef — brought in during the chocolate boutique’s launch — persuaded proprietor Vasudha Munjal to incorporate the flavours of cardamom and cinnamon in her truffles. She was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a hit with her guests. Now she is experimenting with tea infusions.

On the counter at Munjal’s chocolate cafes in Delhi’s swish market complexes of Khan Market and Vasant Vihar, you can get gift hampers at Rs 1,500 in the guise of treasure boxes containing different kinds of tea pouches from the exclusive Avongrove Tea Estate. They are accompanied by handcrafted truffles with special infusions such as pine, vanilla, mint and second flush muscatel (its smooth flavour and aroma is considered similar to a fine muscatel wine).

Pastry chef Daniel Koshy at The Chocolate Box likes to lace truffles with cardamom, cinnamon and chillies; Pix by Jagan Negi

While you nibble on them and sip on the respective tea, it promises that you will be “transported to a breezy hilltop with a view of a valley covered with tea bushes” (read: the hills of Darjeeling where this particular brand comes from).

Wait there’s more. The tea and chocolate pairing experience at Choko La is reminiscent of those high teas you read about during childhood in your favourite Enid Blytons. The high tea service offers finger sandwiches, pastries, scones and infused chocolates.

Among the select coterie dabbling in chocolates is Chef Brainard Colaco, corporate executive chef at Mocha. In the new menu here, he has chilli chocolate shots for the chocoholic, very akin to the cacahuatl (‘ca-ca-WAH-tel’) of the Aztecs. “We have sourced bars of it from a family business in Mexico. So to keep the flavour intact, we are going to melt the chocolate and serve it up,” says Colaco.

Vasudha Munjal (below) is trying to attract connoisseurs by offering tea and chocolate pairings; Pix by Jagan Negi

At Mocha, a series of 30ml shots are placed before you with different concentrations of cacao — so you get to savour an aromatic, smoky 70.1 per cent Papau New Guinea, a milky fruity flavour with hints of herbs and spices in the 39 per cent Arriba and fruity notes with chestnut and spices from a shot of a 60.4 per cent cocoa Ghana. It all comes within Rs 150-Rs 175 plus taxes.

Pastry chef Daniel Koshy of The Chocolate Box, at The Radisson Hotel, Noida, started lacing his fare with cardamom, cinnamon and chillies on the demand of his customers, who got their first taste of spiced chocolates abroad. "I mask the pungent chillies in white chocolate truffle, the cinnamon goes with dark chocolate and the cardamom with milk chocolate," he says.

Fruits are favourites with chocolatiers. Take a bite off Choko La’s white chocolate truffle laced with lemon and you know what we are talking about when its tangy notes hit the throat.

At Ridhi Kapur’s Choco Xpress, fresh purées of raspberry, blueberry and brown sugar imported from The Netherlands make their way into the soft centres of chocolates, priced between Rs 20-Rs 75 apiece.

Obhrai sources berries from Afghanistan and He infuses them with cognac for an added liqueur punch. You can lay your hands on them at Obhrai’s Chocolate Boutique and get them crafted in fun shapes like female busts with naughty messages.

Fancy packaging is the forte of Anupama Amarnath, customised chocolate maker in Bangalore, and the name behind the chocolate shop of Chocolate Junction in the Ulsoor Lake area. “I make logos for corporates and fill my chocolates with not-thought-of-flavours of the likes of capsicum, chilli, basil and oregano,” says Amarnath. She has learnt the art of chocolate-making from her teacher, Jose Don Otter, a Dutch chocolatier.

So here’s to a new chocolate culture.