More Dessert!

Agbalumo Jelly

In my last post I told you that some more ideas concerning agbalumo (white star apple/African star apple) were floating around in my head. Using the same drink as previously concocted I decided to try making it into a jelly for another light dessert. And it worked! Naturally I was quite pleased with myself, so I am happy to share my recipe with you.

Normally one would use gelatine to make a jelly, but since it wasn't available I used our homegrown tapioca. It is not the most refined product to use, unlike pearl sago which gives a different texture to the dish. Buying the local tapioca you will find it comes in small lumps as hard as rock. In order to make it easier to use I ground it in small portions in a spice grinder.

Before 

After

It is not advisable to use it as shown on the left because it will not cook evenly, despite soaking.









The ground tapioca gives a smooth result without any lumps.






And now for the recipe.

Ingredients:

500ml (1/2l) of prepared agbalumo drink at room temperature, 50g ground tapioca

Method:

Place the tapioca into a bowl and add the drink, stirring to dissolve. Cover and allow to stand for about 3 hours. Then pour it into a pot and place on high heat. Now this is a bit tedious but essential. You have to stir it gently continuously to prevent sticking or even burning. Remember that tapioca is just starch. When the lot comes to boil reduce the heat so it is just simmering but continue stirring. You will know when it is ready when the colour changes from opaque to a clear orange which will take between 15 to 20 minutes. Pour into prepared serving cups or glasses and chill for several hours. If the jelly is solid enough you might want to turn each portion onto individual serving dishes and serve with a topping of your choice. My own was a bit too soft because I didn't give it enough time to set before serving. So I left the jelly in the glasses and just decorated with vanilla cream. This amount gives two generous servings.

Agbalumo Jelly

If you enjoyed my recipes you might want to check here for more delicious concoctions!

Agbalumo Drink - Version 1

A couple of weeks ago my daughter sent me a picture of a glass of juice, unusual juice! Made from a fruit which is in season from November/December to March/April and usually just eaten as is. It is called agbalumo in Yoruba and udala (udara) in Igbo; in English it is White Star Apple, African Star Apple being a variation and finally the botanical name Chrysophyllum albidum. I had heard that this fruit is particularly good for diabetics (not me but my husband), but personally I don't like its texture and gummyness. But maybe a juice would be more palatable.

So last Sunday I went to a farmers market and saw beautiful ripe agbalumo and decided to buy some and try my hand at this juice.

Fresh Agbalumo

 

 The picture was on Kuluwaz Instagram page here , but no recipe. On to her blog next where there are fabulous recipes, but still no juice. You can find her blog here. So going back to the Instagram post I saw that the original recipe was obtained from kitchenbutterfly and used with some variations. So I headed over to that site, which is here, and found it immediately. Since I had more fruit than stated in the recipe I made my own adjustments.But first I had to find the recipe. 

 

Here is what I used:

14 ripe agbalumo, 2 l water, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 generous tsp ground ginger, 16 green cardamoms, seeds crushed in a small mortar and pods removed, 2 tsp vanilla extract.

How the drink is made:

Wash and cut up the fruit into smallish pieces, leaving the rather large seed in. Place in a rather large pot and add the water and remaining ingredients. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off heat, open lid and allow to cool until warm. 

Line a colander with a draining cloth (cheesecloth or clean dishtowel) and place on a bowl or pot, large enough to take all the liquid.

The cooked fruit and spices draining

When most of the liquid has drained off take the ends of the cloth and twist together in a ball and squeeze out any remaining juice. Due to the nature of agbalumo the leftovers can be used like chewing gum, which children are very fond of!

Next decant the liquid into a suitable bottle and keep in the fridge until thoroughly chilled.

Ready to drink

Technically speaking it is not a juice because of the addition of water but a drink. A very tasty drink, sweet, sour and a little bitter. Truly enjoyable but because of the sugar not really suitable for diabetics.