Fruit Custard

 

During my growing up years in Mangalore, the fruit custard used to be such an integral part of any party menu. These were family parties, for the young and old and we never had such a thing as parties only for kids. Birthdays were rarely celebrated and even if they were, the whole jing bang was there to watch you cut your cake, sing the quintessential birthday song and then the men would go back to their drinks and deep discussions on politics or sport and the women would merrily gossip or exchange recipes while the hostess busied herself serving the food. After a typical Mangalorean spread of curried meats and pulaos and cutlets and salads the grand finale would always be this simple yet delicious fruit custard that was so much like the popula trifle pudding except that we didn’t use a sponge in one of the several layers.

 

Since this dessert was really easy to make most moms opted for it. I mean which busy mom doing a million things on the day of the party doesn’t welcome the idea of a dessert that can be made ahead of time? The custard and the jelly could be made the previous day and the fruits could be chopped up in a jiffy before serving. I have seen many a dad who was dragged in at the last minute to cut up the apples or papaya or bananas or whatever that went into the dessert.

 

A couple of days ago when I was decluttering my kitchen shelves I noticed this tin of custard powder that was not used in a long time. There was a long time to go before it expired and so I decided to make some custard yesterday. There was also a packet of jelly bought for another project that never really took off and so I decided to pronounce the two man and wife 🙂 and well, the rest is history, the fruit custard was born!

 

 

I noticed that most fruit custard recipes don’t call for jelly to be served along with it but somehow it has been a tradition in my family and most Mangalorean families that I know of. I think it just makes the whole dessert look pretty and since I personally love jelly it was a perfect addition for me.

 

You could go all creative and add some roasted cashew nuts and raisins if you wish but just the custard and fruits will do when you want to serve something simple an unassuming.

 

Now that the festive season is just around the corner I thought it was the right time to post it but trust me, this dessert needs no reason and no season. Make it with seasonal fruits anytime of the year and simply dig into that bowl of deliciousness! Yumm!