Fro-yo dessert, anyone?

It is cool and nutritious and when nonfat yogurt and natural sweeteners are used, it is friendly for your waistline as well.

MARYLAND: 

Ice-cream-like yogurt desserts are bliss during Ramazan summers — be it your sehri eye-opener or your iftar fast-breaker. Let’s face it; we go overboard with hard-to-burn calories during Ramazan with the traditional, fried delicacies and confections. Therefore, it will be a pleasant change for you to try out this fun recipe. It is cool and nutritious and when nonfat yogurt and natural sweeteners are used, it is friendly for your waistline as well.

The basic idea is to prepare a smooth and creamy yogurt base and a thick paste of fruit pulp. Mix them together before setting in the freezer to turn to ice-cream. The strenuous Indian way is that of hanging the yogurt for hours (overnight) in a muslin cloth over a strainer. It is set in the fridge and excess water drops out of the yogurt. The remaining curd is thick and creamy when blended. This is how the Gujrati Shrikand is prepared. Why go through the hassle and lose all the hydrating water content when it can do you wonders during fierce summery Ramazan heat? Another way is to blend in cream with yogurt and ruin the healthiness by adding harmful calories. The best way is to add lemon juice which causes yogurt to curdle and curd and water to separate.

Using this technique, allow me to help you blend up a delicious frozen yogurt ice-cream dessert. The recipe serves four people.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt

3 ½ cups chopped fruit of choice (mango, peaches, strawberries, bananas, and pineapples work best)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Natural sweetener or fine sugar, according to taste

FRO-YO GRIND

In a food processor, add the chopped fruits of your choice and sprinkle sugar/sweetener.

In a separate mixing cup, add yogurt and lemon and mix to form a paste.

Begin grinding the fruits and start pouring in the yogurt paste slowly. This is similar to blending in ice-cream bases before they are transferred to an ice-cream maker.

Between intervals, scrape the sides of the food processor, so all ingredients are being crushed in smoothly. Once done with the entire yogurt, scoop out the mixture in serving bowls and set them in the freezer for a good two hours.

GET CREATIVE

You can become a fro-yo mixer this Ramazan and surprise your family with new flavours. Some great flavours can be infused by boiling the fruit with water and evaporating it completely to reduce the contents to a pulp. This could go into the food processor instead of chopped fruits. Save yourself the hassle of making this fruit puree and put in your favourite jam or marmalade to flavour the yogurt. Throw in a little bit of vanilla essence, add a couple of tablespoons of thick custard and only super smart ones will be able to tell the difference between yogurt and ice-cream. You can go chocolate and add melted chocolate to the mix. Nuts, grated coconut, and chocolate chips could go into the mix as well. Alternatively, these could also be used as toppings to garnish your fro-yo dessert.

THE ICE-CREAM LOOK!

To make your fro-yo look like ice-cream, you need to serve it creatively. Use a scoop, or piping bag to pipe out a swirl after the yogurt is frozen. Let it soften a bit if piping it, and re-freeze to set the swirl. Food colours can also be added.

Anum Ali is a US-based creative writer and home baker. She is an editor and staff writer for Muslim youth magazines and websites, and publishes her own food, travel, and photography blogs.