a green ball of fruit hanging from a tree branch

SITAPHAL BASUNDI / CUSTARD APPLE CUSTARD

CUSTARD APPLE in english and SITAPHAL in most of the Indian languages is of local importance for its uses in medicine and health. It has a creamy texture and is sweet and refreshing in taste, and these qualities of sitaphal can be associated with with the cooling properties in the traditional Indian context. ' CUSTARDAPPLE ' is a tropical fruit and its distinct taste has earned it a merit of being exotic. This fruit can be eaten ripe or can be preserved in form of jam, jelly, juice, syrup etc..... it is eaten as a dessert, as an ice-cream, and also as a refreshing juice. Today we are going to prepare ' CUSTARD APPLE CUSTARD ' or we can say ' SITAPHAL BASUNDI '. This dessert is usually prepared using sugar, but today I am going to prepare it using jaggery and that's the peculiarity of this ' BASUNDI/ CUSTARD. The healthiest ' CUSTARD/ BASUNDI 'we can say!!! So let's start with the making of ' BASUNDI '.

By - Pooja Sumanth Heblekar

10/3/20242 min read

INGREDIENTS :
1) Custard apple / Sitaphal - 3 medium sized

2) Milk - 1 litre

3) Jaggery - 2 tablespoon
4) Cardamom - 4
5) Nutmeg powder - a pinch
6) Almond - ( slivered ) about 8-10 almonds

METHOD :
1) Put the milk to boil, keep stirring it frequently. let it boil until it reduces to half.

2) Wash the custard apples and deseed it with the help of a hand chopper.
3) Separate the pulp and the seeds.

4) Sliver the almonds.
5) Crush the nutmeg and cardamom to powder.

6) Melt the jaggery by adding 1/4 cup of water

7) Once the milk has reduced to half, add the slivered almonds ( reserve some to garnish )

8) Add the custard apple pulp and give a good stir, let the basundi sizzle for another five minutes.

9)Finally add the jaggery syrup, sprinkle the cardamom and nutmeg powder give a gentle stir for about 2-3 seconds off the flame.

10) Garnish with saffron/ kesar ( optional ) and dry fruits of your choice

11) Refrigerate it or relish it warm.

TIPS:
1) After adding jaggery syrup, don't cook or don't stir the custard for too long ,as there are chances of custard / basundi getting curdled due to the salty nature of the jaggery
2) You can add the dry fruits of your choice to the basundi.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF CUSTARD APPLE :
1) Maintains cardio health
2) Rich in potassium and magnesium
3) High in vitamin 6 which helps in brain health
4) High in fiber
5) Helps bowel movement and prevents constipation

FACT : The name Sitaphal originates from Sanskrit language, where ' SITA' means ' COLD ' and ' PHAL' means ' FRUIT '

THANK YOU!!!!
HAPPY COOKING😊

a black and white photo of a flower head

Looking forward to see you again!

Share with friends & family for easy & authentic recipes!!

Get in touch!

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. You can use the form on our website or MESSAGE us directly. We appreciate your interest and look forward to hearing from you.