"Chilled Muskmelon (Chibbada)- Apple Harshala (Jaggery- Coconut Milk)" served with Poha (Povu/ Pova/ Beaten Rice) ... come summer and it's the time to prepare more fruit dishes that can be served chilled to relish and beat the rising heat ... Harshala is a traditional dessert from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine prepared often during festive occasion with chibbada cut to pieces and added to jaggery sweetened coconut milk ... here, I have also included some apple pieces ... you can relish this chilled as it is or add on some povu, mix and relish too ... Yummilicious .....
** Muskmelon also known as Chibbada in konkani is a kind of sweet melon fruit available in different shapes and sizes in different parts of the country. It is also known as karbooj in Hindi and Cantaloupe in English. You get both ripe and semi ripe fruit both in round and oblong shapes, including the flesh withing either white or orange. When I got married and settled in Thane, a city just in the outskirts of Mumbai we used to get loads of oval shaped chibbada which initially I mistook for magge/ south Indian cucumber, coz. it looked just like that. Somehow over years, I have no idea where they disappeared and I never find them much in my vicinity now and only round shaped smaller ones have started flooding the market. No issues as they are sweet and tasty.
** Anyways sometimes though the name differs a little bit as per the region, for us amchies, the fruit is simply known as chibbada that’s it, which we extensively enjoy in preparing the same as harshala, a dessert. This sweet fruit is just cut and added to cardamom flavored, jaggery sweetened coconut milk and served chilled/ cold with some poha/ beaten rice which is added on just before eating. It is called Harshala among GSB Konkani Saraswat’s and extensively used during the period of upawas/ fasting etc. This dish is also offered as Naivedyam/ Prasadam to God during festive occasions. I have already posted Harshala, before with addition of just muskmelon/ chibbada. Here I have included some apple pieces along with muskmelon and it tastes wonderful.
** Here is my recipe for "Chilled Muskmelon (Chibbada)- Apple Harshala (Jaggery- Coconut Milk)" ... which I learnt from Amma ....
** Slice the skin part of chibbada/ muskmelon as thinly as possible. Remove inner seeds, keep them aside and chop the flesh portion into small pieces. Put this in a vessel and keep it ready aside. I used about 500 gms weight of muskmelon.
** Note : You can keep the seeds aside and put them in the fridge for later use and use it in preparing either panak a spiced coolant drink or prepare tambuli a cold dish served with rice during meals. Both are famous dishes from GSB Konkani Saraswats Cuisine, which I have already shared in the Blog, along with few other recipes. I will share a common link at the bottom of this recipe for easy access to those recipe.
** Slice off the skin part of 2 large sized apples as thinly as possible. Remove inner center core part and discard it. Chop flesh portion into small pieces similar in size to that of the muskmelon. Add to the muskmelon pieces in the vessel.
** Grate about 200 gms of gud/ jaggery/ bella or melt in 3 cups of water and keep aside. You can cut into small pieces and grind them in a mixer grinder and sieve to remove impurities if any. Add this to the vessel into which the cut muskmelon pieces are kept and mix well. Cover and keep it aside, the jaggery will melt on its own.
** Now add about 200-300 ml of coconut milk (narla rosu/ nariyal doodh) to the chibbad and jaggery mixture along with ¼ tsp of cardamom (ellaichi/ yellu) powder a pinch of saffron (kesar/ keshar) soaked in warm milk (Optional, I have not added it this time) and mix well. Add water if necessary to bring to a pouring thick milk consistency and then keep it in the fridge to get chilled before serving.
** Note : Be careful with addition of water, as you can add it later on too if required. Muskmelon does have a tendency of leaving water in time and we do not want the harshal / prepared mixture to become too thin in texture.
** Note : You can also use store bought readily available coconut milk, for this recipe I have used the same. However, most of the time I extract coconut milk from fresh coconut gratings, the method of which you can check out on the link shared at the bottom of this recipe, it is very easy, so if you can spare the time, please do so.
** "Chilled Muskmelon (Chibbada)- Apple Harshala (Jaggery- Coconut Milk)" is done and ready to be served. If you have prepared this as Naivedyam/ Prasadam, then do offer the same to God and then serve your family and friends in bowl topped with some Poha/ Povu/ Beaten Rice as a dessert after meals. It tastes wonderful, though it is mainly prepared with muskmelon, you can go ahead and try your own combination of fruits, which is what I do, which you will find a few shared in the Blog.
** As mentioned above, this is a traditional dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine often prepared during festivals when upvas/ fasting is observed. Addition of poha/ beaten rice is optional, however, that's the way it is served in every home, though if Ekadashi then serving poha is skipped as it is rice product. Do try this awesome dessert and serve it chilled for best taste to you family and friends, I am sure they will love it. However, remember to serve poha alongside in a plate of immediately when mixed otherwise it will get soggy when it soaks in the coconut milk and will lose on taste.
** I have shared a few common links below which includes a few "Harshala" shared in the Blog before, along with a link to method of preparation of "Coconut Milk/ Narla Rosu" and then a link to more "Muskmelon" recipe .... do browse through in leisure and try them out and enjoy with your family and friends ....
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks.