Vattavada in Munnar has gained fame as the winter farmland of Kerala. This picturesque countryside is just 45 kilometres away from Munnar. Known for step cultivation, Vattavada which lies close to the Tamil Nadu border, stands out for its verdant farmland. This is a tourism haven too as visitors throng to enjoy the cool weather even during the summer. Interestingly, Vattavada is cooler than Munnar. Summer fruits like strawberries, passion fruit, butter beans and cabbage could be freshly purchased from the farmers. The plump strawberries at Rekha’s orchard near the Green Valley Resort here are every bit delicious and juicy as they appear to be. Fresh strawberries are sold for Rs 600 per kilo at the local farms. Jams and wine too are prepared at the farms using these delicious strawberries.
Strawberry kulfi
Chilled kulfis are the perfect dessert to enjoy during the harsh summers. Kulfi could easily be called the Indian version of ice lollies that are incredibly popular in Western countries. However, kulfis are richer and creamier as milk is added. So, kulfis wouldn’t melt as easily as regular ice creams. Interestingly, Indians enjoyed refreshing kulfis even before refrigerators became an household item.
Kulfi, which is a milk based dessert, is believed to have originated in the royal kitchen of the Mughal empire in the sixteenth century. Mughal Emperor Akbar's court historian Abu'l Fazl had mentioned about a creamy dessert made with milk and saffron and chilled using ice, in his iconic treatise Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th century document. Kulfis were made by reducing and thickening milk to the perfect consistency. Traditionally, kulfi is made in small earthen pots called ‘kulhad’.
This time, Chefs Sinoy and Shibin, are making refreshing kulfis with these perfectly sweet and sour strawberries using just three main ingredients. In this simple recipe, artificial colourants or flavours aren’t added. Check out the recipe here:
Ingredients
20 ripe strawberries
3 tbsp sugar
1 litre milk
A pinch of cardamom powder
Preparation
Slightly heat the strawberry pieces in a pan
Into it add the sugar
Mix well
Meanwhile, boil 1 litre milk in another pan
Add 200 ml cream and cardamom powder when the milk boils and gets reduced to half litre
Cook the strawberries in the sugar for at least 20 minutes
Now blend the cooked strawberries in a mixer jar
After the milk has cooled down, strain it
Pour the milk into the strawberry puree
Mix well
Pour this mixture into a kulfi mould
Cover the mould with an aluminium foil
Insert a stick too
Keep the kulfis in the fridge for at least 8 hours
Tasty kulfis made using fresh ingredients are ready.