Fruit Salad
Phalon ka Salad
Mamta Gupta
Fruit salad is basically a mix of various fruits, served all together, with a dressing of fruit juice or a liquor, honey or sugar or some sort of syrup. It is usually served with cream or ice-cream. In the western world, cream/ice-cream are served separate from the fruit salad, for people to pour over as much or as little as they want. In India, beaten cream and sugar are often mixed with chopped fruits and served in one bowl.
It is generally served as a dessert, but can be served as an appetizer or starter, but do not mix cream, if serving as a starter; Indians will often serve fruit salad with a sprinkling of Chaat Masala and lemon juice, when it is called Fruit Chaat. Cinnamon, cardamom, saffron may be added as flavourings, but I prefer it without any additional flavourings or alcohol. Serves 6-8
Ingredients
Approximately 1 kg. of prepared fruit of choice. I generally mix 2-4 fruits, but you can mix as many or as few as you like. Here are a few examples.
Strawberries, hulled and sliced if very large
Blackberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Cape gooseberries (called ras-bhari in India), husk removed
Pineapple, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
Melon, de-seeded, peeled and cut into chunks
Papaya, de-seeded, peeled and cut into chunks
Guava, cut into chunks (remove seeds if hard)
Apples, cored and cut into small chunks
Pears, cored and cut into small chunks
Peaches, de-stoned and cut into chunks
Apricots, de-stoned and cut into chunks
Grapes, seedless or de-seeded
Pomegranate pearls
Avoid bananas, because they become soggy quickly
You can add nuts and raisins, but I don't)
Dressing. You can use any vinaigrette type of dressing of choice
Juice of one small lemon or lime (about 2-3 tbsp.)
1/2 cup fruit juice like orange or pineapple or grape juice
2-3 tbsp. liquor/alcohol) of choice e.g. Brandy, Kirsch, Amaretto, Curacao (optional)
1-2 tbsp. sugar or sweetener or honey (optional) I don't use these
Instructions
All fruits should be washed and towel dried before preparing. I usually leave the small ones, like berries, on a towel to drain and dry.
Prepare fruits; peel/de-seed/top and tail/slice/chp, according to what the fruit is.
Place all prepared fruits in a bowl.
Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
Pour the mixture over the fruit, mix gently, cover with a cling film (I often use plastic shower caps collected from hotels!) and chill before serving.
Also see Salad Selection and Salad Dressings
