A fruity and exotic experience

I n a bid to woo back the sunshine, I decided this week to write about my exquisite, exotic fruit chaat (salad). Maybe if we think summer fruit salads, summer may just come back. On a positive note, with all the rain we have been having in Peterborough - my lawn looks fabulous!... but enough already, come on Mother Nature, let's have some sun. I know I am digressing, what's new, I know I do but I promise I will get to the recipes in just a minute. I just wanted to share a little weather story with you'¦

I was in Lebanon last year, yes, that’s me in the photo, in a catering van. The weather was beautiful and we had constant sunshine, so when I commented to my client, he didn’t really engage in conversation about the weather. He couldn’t understand why I would allegedly “constantly” talk about the weather, I didn’t really - I may have mentioned it a couple of times. He said that he had heard that in the UK we ALWAYS talk about the weather and was that true? We do, don’t we? Well, we have such changeable weather and it’s such a safe subject, doesn’t offend anybody and we can all relate to it - so, yes, I suppose we DO talk about the weather and in my case, I am writing about it. Plus, we actually decide what we are going to cook depending on the weather, obviously, if is a little chilly, we like warming comfort food like hot soups, roast potatoes, apple crumble and custard (my favourite) and when its warm and sunny, we opt for lighter meals and salad and of course, my exquisite, exotic fruit salad. Give it a go - it’s delicious!

Fruit Chaat Recipe

This is fundamentally a fruit salad with a twist. The salt, pepper and lemon juice helps to bring the flavours to life.

Serves 6 approx

Prep Time: 15 mins

INGREDIENTS

1 large mango

1 pomegranate

2 apples (any variety)

2 small bananas

1 small bunch of seedless green grapes

200g of tinned guava

1 large orange

¼ fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp fine black pepper

METHOD

1. Firstly, you need to peel and chop the fruit. Ready to assemble in a large bowl

2. Take seeds out of the pomegranate, the easiest way is to, slice off the top and bottom and cut in half. Hold each half over a bowl, and very firmly tap the back with a serving spoon, the jewels of pomegranate will just pop out.

3. Peel and core the apples into 1 cm cubes; Wash and half the grapes; Cut the orange in half; peel and dice half into 1 cm cubes and juice the rest, lastly peel the bananas and cut into 1 cm slices.

4. Add all the fruit to the bowl. Now add the tin of guavas, slice the guavas in half and use the juice to create a delicious fruity sauce.

5. Lastly, add the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Gently mix together and serve chilled or even better at room temperature.

If you have a any questions, email me via [email protected]