Fruit Custard – Indian Fruit Salad
As soon as summer comes, we all have the sweetest memories of growing up with certain foods. Fruit Salad or Fruit Custard is one those desserts. This dessert is creamy, and quite delicious and very easy to prepare!
Fruit Salad is made with fruits, milk, custard powder, sugar and flavors like cardamom, nutmeg and vanilla. This dessert is enjoyed best on a hot summer day. And mom the best pairing with it is puri, bhaji. And you do not need anything else. Its one of those desserts that Indian mom’s made regularly so that one way or the other we would eat fruits.
What is Fruit Salad or Custard?
Fruit Salad is what we Gujaratis call this dish. I honestly do not know why we call it fruit salad. 😊 Some people call it fruit custard too due to use of custard powder and thick texture. We will talk about texture in a bit. But before that let’s talk how it’s made. My mom’s method, she boils the milk for longtime, its important to as it thickens the milk and makes it creamier. It also removes that raw milk flavor.
Ingredients
Most of times, we would add five major fruits in this dessert, so whenever they were all in season it is fruit salad time. The fruits I have used are banana, apples, grapes, chikoo, papaya and pomegranate. Generally, we do not use citrus fruits as it can curdle or split the milk. All the different fruits really add to the texture and the natural sweetness or slight tartness to the dish.
You want to make sure that you are using fresh and ripe fruits. They are the main ingredient, they have to taste good.
One of the main ingredients in fruit salad is custard powder, which is like pudding mix. It is store-bought thickener in the form of cornstarch. You can easily buy it and store it at home. Additionally, it can be used in some other recipes too. This powder helps in thickening any dessert without the use of eggs.
The consistency of the overall dish can be changed with addition of extra custard powder. Some people make it very thick, and some make it slightly less thick. Also, after cooking the milk custard, it thicken further more as it cools down. If you end up with very thick custard, don’t worry you can always boil some more milk and mix it in, also fruits release some water and make it thinner too.
Flavors like cardamom and nutmeg bring the the dish together. Most of the time the custard powder has some sort of vanilla flavor in it, but if you like you can add a splash of vanilla extract too. It will enhance the flavors.
Additionally, you can add mangoes, blueberries, strawberries, kiwi as well but I would recommend doing so right before serving. Tart fruits will spoil overall, custard.
Some people add almonds and cashews, but I am not a big fan of it. I added some pistachios for texture but overall, it’s a personal choice.
Make It Vegan
With so many choices with vegan dairy free products that can replace milk in this recipe, you can totally veganize it. Use almond, cashew or coconut milk.
Few variations that I like to add or change up
- Mango pulp alongwith mangoes in addition to the recipe ingredients.
- Add coconut jelly in the mix.
- Add chia seeds
- Kids might even like if you add some homemade jelly cubes.
Tips/ Suggestions
You want to cook the milk until full boil. And then let it simmer on slow flame.
Always dilute custard powder in hot/warm milk in separate container and then pour it in the milk. Constantly stir it to avoid lumps.
Chop fruits right before serving, so that discoloration does not happen.
This is one dessert you want to serve chilled.
The custard can be prepared in advance and stores well. Add the fruits right before serving.
Leftover can be stored for atleast 2-3 days in refrigerator.
If you would like to try few more summer recipes!
Fruit Custard – Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1/3 cup warm milk
- 4 tbsp custard powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ tsp cardamom powder
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- Splash of vanilla extract optional
- Nuts and cherry garnish optional
- Fruits – ½ cup chikoo 2-3 bananas, bunch of green grapes, 1 small apple, ½ cup pomegranate arils, and ½ cup papaya, finely chopped
Instructions
- Boil milk in deep pot or pan, remove 1/3 cup of milk in small bowl or pouring jar. Add custard powder in that milk we just removed in a small bowl.
- Once rest of the milk boils, reduce the flame add the custard powder/milk mixture and sugar. Gradually stir until the custard powder is mixed well. There should not be any lumps in the milk.
- Once it starts thickening, turn off the flame. Let it cool down completely and then add chopped fruits and cardamom, freshly grated nutmeg and vanilla extract. Store it in fridge for atleast 1-2 hours or longer until you are ready to serve.
- Serve it chilled with some bottled cherry and pistachios on top.