06 May 2007

Guilt-free Dessert

Once upon a time yours truly would go on dessert binges. When I say binge, I mean binge. Still skeptical?? Hmmm... let me see... There was this time a friend and I were celebrating our very first salaries. And we decided that nothing less than a total splurge would suffice! And we had this multi course lunch. We ordered the entire dessert menu at our favourite restaurant for lunch, and then went to our favourite ice cream parlor for dessert.

Those were also the days when I used to run. And my favourite pair of jeans never had to strain to accommodate all that dessert. To cut a long story short, those days are now fond history. These days I just have to look at a dessert and last years jeans scream out in horror... "no, no, no more please!"

Now that I'm experimenting with low-fat sugar-free foods, this seemed a good time to make something I've wanted to try for ages. Thick yogurt and fruit, sans sugar.

I'm big fan of flavoured yogurts. I love shrikhand and mishti doi. Store bought flavoured yogurt is fine too, but I always wished the texture could be creamier. And since my friendly neighbourhood vegetable store's shelves are full of fruit these days, this seemed to be the right time to try out this dessert.

Active time is quite little: drain yogurt for 2 hours. Cut as many fruits as you wish to add, stir the residue till smooth, top with cut fruits, and voila, dessert's up!

Verdict: light, cool, yummy, and guilt free. The little one too had her share, and didn't ask for sugar or honey to go with it!

Creamy Yogurt with Fruit
Serves 6


10 cups yogurt
2 cups strawberries, halved
1 cup grapes
1 cup pineapple chunks

Set a colander over a large bowl and line colander with a muslin cloth.
Pour yogurt into colander and let it drain in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Transfer the yogurt in the colander to a serving bowl.
* Stir gently till smooth.
Garnish with fruits.
Chill till ready to serve.

* Optional
Add 1 or 2 tbsp honey or powdered sugar to the yogurt while stirring.

Notes:
The volume of curd reduces after draining. So for each 1-cup serving, you'll need about twice the volume of fresh yogurt.
If using low-fat or 2% yogurt, 1 hour draining time is enough.
Oranges, apples and banana slices can also be used.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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