Custard Apple Ice Cream

Festivals are my favourite time of the year. The family gathers, the house is buzzing. Titters, whispers, whining, guffaws, screeching.....all such welcome sounds. Yet the  one time silence is good is when everyone gathers at the dinner table.  All of us are certified sugar monsters. However satisfying the meal may have been, without dessert , its never enough. New desserts are expected and I mange to throw a surprise every once in a while. That this particular dish to make was so easy, took me by surprise. And this one is EASY. literally 1-2 3 easy . Here goes

1 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 cups double cream or cream from boiled milk ( its devon cream/ clotted cream)
3 cups Custard apple pulp

Put the custard apple pulp through the blender , just giving it a couple of quick whisks , so that the pulp is still coarse. Mix in the cream and the condensed milk. Freeze overnight. READY!!

Prawns Masala

Some dishes are ridiculously easy to cook and yet look downright exotic . Some of these recipes handed down from my grandmother are even today on demand and enjoyed by all generations. One such lovely and absolutely delicious dish is Prwans Masala. Its so easy to cook and can still be the one dish that gets maximum number of ooohs and aaahs at a party. Beware: You need to cook it in a larger quantity than you would another entree. Guests go for seconds and thirds too.

So here goes
Ingredients
500 gms medium to large size prawns, shelled and de veined
2 onions finely chopped
2 tomatoes cut into medium size chunks
1 capsicum ( optional) , cut into medium size chunks
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp chopped green chilli
1 tblsp each chopped ginger and garlic
2 tblsp oil
1 tsp each red chilli powder , haldi, garam masala, corriander powder
Salt to taste
Finely chopped green corriander leaves

Heat oil , add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add in the chillies, ginger and fry for a minute. Add the onions and cook till transluscent. Add garlic. Then mix the red chilli powder, haldi, corriander powder and garam masala with 4 tblsp water. Add this to the onion mix and cook till oil separates.Add salt to taste.  Add the tomatoes and capsicum. Cover and cook till the tomatoes have softened. Add the prawns and 1/4th cup water. Cover and cook. Once the prawns turn opaque, take off the lid and dry out the water. Add the green corriander leaves and mix well. Serve hot with Rotis/ Bread or steamed rice.