Creamy Sitaphal Pudding | Custard Apple Pudding

Creamy Sitaphal Pudding | Custard Apple Pudding

It is the season of Custard Apple and when life gives you Sitaphal you make a Creamy Sitaphal Pudding | Custard Apple Pudding. Whether you’re hosting an elegant dinner party or simply looking for the perfect finale to a family meal, Creamy Sitaphal Pudding | Custard Apple Pudding always hits the bull’s eye or sweet spot! It is also Diwali and what better sweet than this Creamy Sitaphal Pudding | Custard Apple Pudding?

Custard Apple Monikers

Many names one fruit; Custard apple, Sitafal, Buddha’s Head Fruit, Cherimoya Atis Annona Reticulata, Sugar apple, or Sweetsop is delicious. The fruit name itself sounds so sugary and sure makes your life sweeter. The flesh is aromatic and sweet, creamy white and looks and tastes like custard. I’m sure that you all love its flavour but did u know also its incredible benefits for your body? If Sitaphal is “Sharifa” then which fruit is Badmaash?

How to Eat a Custard Apple

While growing up, Custard apple trees were a popular backyard fruit-tree. It only grows about 10 – 20 ft high and it was easy to pluck the fruits from the trees of the neighbours and when we were caught we would just run home. Let me share how to eat it in a real clean and easy way. Remove the segments around the top and you have a bowl in your hand. Now scoop the flesh from the centre with a spoon and enjoy. Easy, isn’t it? This is how my mom used to eat it.

Benefits of Custard Apple

I’m sure that you all love its flavour but did you know also its incredible benefits for your body? This soft and chewy fruit with a hard exterior is also full of nutrients. Rich in magnesium, custard apple aids in the prevention of cardiac problems. Rich in copper and nutritional fibre, custard apple is effective in digestion and also eases bowel movement. It is true that custard apple powder taken with water is effective against diarrhoea. Custard apple is expensive but is rich in vitamin A that works magic on skin and hair. I usually rub the inner pulp on my face as it controls signs of ageing. The pulp works well on boils and ulcers as well.

Creamy Sitaphal Pudding | Custard Apple Pudding

How I digress and keep rambling. When I went to buy Sitaphal the lady selling them refused to sell me 2 custard apples. I was asked to buy a dozen. I kept haggling and she agreed to give me 6! Now Sitaphal does not have a long shelf life and I came across this Sitaphal Kheer on Amritaoflife’s Insta page. Thank you Amrita….this is a real show-stopper recipe. As it was Diwali and my daughter was home, I decided to make the kheer into a Creamy Sitaphal Pudding with a twist of my own. If your taste buds listen to your sweet tooth then this luscious and Creamy Sitaphal Pudding | Custard Apple Puddingcan feel like the ultimate indulgence. The flesh of the Sitaphal ensures a dense consistency and smooth texture. Puddings are sweet and creamy and soothe the soul as well as the palate. Yes, deseeding the Custard Apple is a bit tricky but the recipe is quite easy. Just boil milk with cardamom and cinnamon, add condensed milk and Sitaphal pulp, ending with cream and garnish with nuts and your Creamy Sitaphal Pudding | Custard Apple Pudding is ready.

Puddings are a favourite and if you are looking for more fruit-based desserts then check out the Mango Swirl, Pineapple Creme Caramel, Apple Kheer.

Ingredients

½ litre Milk

1 small cup condensed milk

2 tbsp Sugar if desired

1 bowl Custard Apple pulp

½ cup cream

4 cardamoms powdered

½ inch cinnamon

4-5 Almonds and Walnuts chopped

Method

First of all, you have to deseed the Custard Apples. Take a strainer and open the custard apple. Scoop out the flesh gently and keep the Sitaphal shells to be used as bowls. Once the flesh is on the strainer, with the back of a spoon or a hand beater extract the seeds and pick them out. Collect the pulp below and spoon out the seeds. You can blend the pulp to a smooth paste but I let the segments stay as it gives a grainy texture like Kheer instead of Phirni.

Boil the milk and let it simmer. Add the cardamom powder and cinnamon stick.

Once the milk has reduced almost to half, remove the cinnamon stick. Add the milkmaid and sugar if needed.

You can now add the Sitaphal pulp and give a good mix. Turn off the flame and stir in the cream.

Your Creamy Custard Apple Pudding is ready. Pour into a bowl and set in the fridge for a couple of hours or pour into the Sitaphal Shells and use as individual bowls.

Garnish the Creamy Sitaphal Pudding | Custard Apple Pudding with slivers of almonds and walnuts.