Fruit is an important part of our daily diet. Loaded with several essential vitamins and minerals, these fresh fruits are also delicious in taste. The best thing about fruits is that you can eat them without cooking. Each season brings a variety of these healthy and tasty food items. Coming to winter, apples, pomegranate, oranges, guava, grapes, and custard apples are some common fruits of this season.
Speaking particularly about custard apples, this winter delight is round and brown in colour and has a very soft pulp. It is widely known as sitaphal in India. According to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information, this fruit is rich in protein, flavonoids, iron, potassium, calcium, and vitamins A, C, and E.
Here are six delicious recipes you can prepare with custard apples this winter:
Custard Apple Basundi
This is a classic winter dish that is widely enjoyed in India. Made with ripe sitaphal pulp, milk, and sugar, this delicious dessert is particularly made during festivals like Navratri and Janmashtami. To enhance the flavour of custard apple basundi, you can also add a little cardamom powder to it. Garnish it with silvered nuts and serve chilled.
Custard Apple Parfait
This creamy and indulgent dessert can become a crowd-pleaser at winter celebrations. It is prepared with ripe custard apples, cream, vanilla bean paste, brown sugar, and ginger biscuit. You can also drizzle the parfait with salted caramel sauce before serving to make it more delicious. It can stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Custard Apple Smoothie
This smoothie is a perfect addition to your breakfast meal. Loaded with the goodness of full-cream milk, custard apples, and dry fruits, it is very easy to prepare. All you must do is add all the ingredients to a blender and combine them until smooth. You can also garnish the drink with dried rose petals before serving.
Custard Apple Ice Cream
If you are fond of eating ice cream during the winter, then this recipe is perfect for you. The main ingredients of this frozen dessert are custard apples, thickened cream, milk, caster sugar, vanilla essences, and egg yolks. Garnished with toasted coconut, it can become a perfect treat to relish post-meals during the winter.
Custard Apple Halwa
We all enjoy gajar ka halwa during the winter, but have you ever tried sitaphal halwa? Made using semolina, ghee, milk, sugar, custard apple, and nutmeg powder, this creamy and thick dessert can be ready in less than half an hour. Serve it hot, along with the garnishing of raisins, cashews, and almonds.
Custard Apple Muffins
This is another delicious custard apple delight you can enjoy this winter. It can be served for breakfast as well as snacks. You can also pack it in the lunchbox of your kids. The main ingredients of these muffins are milk, flour, margarine, eggs, and vanilla extract. Combine custard apples with your favourite berries to make the recipe more delicious.