Sitafal Basundi.. poll..vote ..

Few of my blogger friends suggested Personal Tadka over Kitchen Gossip as my header name. And since I can't make up my mind about which header is better, I'll go by popular choice.So now you take your pick on which one you prefer and help this confused soul.
Added the Poll on my sidebar, so do vote and let me know.

You have guests dropping in @ last moment OR you just have an urge to prepare something sweet with you pantry empty !! Basundi – jumps in – One of the most simple and convenient Indian desert/sweet. For a Basic Basundi you just require Milk and Sugar – your pantry will always have this. Wiki says

“Basundi is an Indian dessert mostly in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka. It is a dense sweetened paste made by boiling milk on low heat until the milk is reduced by half.”

The Latest trend going on in Maharashtrian sweet shop is the fusion of traditional Basundi with sweet fruits. My favorite among all is Sitafal Basundi. O:-)
You Need :

• Milk: 1 litre
• Sugar: Half a cup
• Dry fruits of your choice : Almonds, Cashews and Raisins – finely chopped
• Saffron (Kesar): Few strands
• Cardamom powder : 1/2 tsp - (As making cardamom powder is mixer is a bit difficult i mix it with some sugar and put it in Mixer/Grinder)
• Sitafal/Custard Apple: Deseeded

You Do:

1. Using Sitafal: Prefer ripe and soft sitafal, deseed it manually. Keep the seed cover/skin as it is , do not mash to make pulp – it tastes better as a whole. 
2. Mix it with 2-3 tbsp sugar and refrigerate it.
3. Preparing Basundi: As I mentioned earlier, the most easiest way for preparing any desert.Just take a huge Kadai and boil the 1 litre milk to half a litre or more. Once milk reaches the boiling point minimise the heat below medium low and hold it for say half an hour. Stir occassionaly by mixing the generated cream with the boiling milk. I reduced the milk to nearly one third – boiled it for more than 90 mins.
4. When thickness is enough, mix the sugar , finely chopped dry fruits , saffron and cardamom powder. Now boil till sugar dissolves completely. Done with Basundi :)
5. Cool the Basundi to Room temperature – only then use it for mixing with sitafal.
6. Always mix sitafal just before serving. The mix is thick and custardy :D

Of all the fruit basundis this is one of my favorite, but you can find other fruit basundis here :Meera’s Pineapple basundi , Strawberry Basundi and Nupur’s Orange Basundi. ;;)


Basundi goes for Sanghi’s FIL : Fruits and DK’s JFI- Saffron (originally started by Indira’s – JFI)