Being a farmer, and belonging to a family with a predominant agricultural background, has instilled in me this total abhorrence for wastage. I visibly cringe at the prospect anything, especially agricultural produce, going waste due to poor management and usage.
At our family home in the city, we have a 20-year-old Aonvla tree, still flourishing even long after its commercial productive age. Being the ‘Francis’ variety (Hathi-jhool in local lingo), its fruits are much larger than the normal specimen seen in the markets. And, even at this ripe age, it produces 150 to 200 kgs of fruit annually. Even after catering to the supply requests of relatives, friends, neighbours (& even complete strangers, occasionally, who, attracted by seeing the fruit laden branches of the tree, simply walk in and request if they can harvest a few kgs for their personal use… they are always invited to help themselves 😊 ) (Strangely, ditto requests come in round the year for our Meethi Neem -Kadhi Patta – Curry Leaves Plant 😊 😊 )
Coming back to the Aonvla … We try and use all the bounty our tree offers, trying not to waste anything. Mom makes Murabba, Dry Churna, Candied with sugar, Pickles, as a vegetable or even as plain, dried, powdered form to put to a hundred of uses.
I am a diabetic. With an obnoxious sweet tooth. 😊 😊 😊
I have devised a way to make sugar free candies from this fruit, sweetened with Splenda/stevia, that take care of my cravings for sweets, act as mouth fresheners & also is a good source of Vitamin C… And with no guilt involved …
Method
Wash the Aonvla fruit thoroughly. Discard the pieces showing blotches/general deterioration. (Such damaged fruit can be grated, dried, powdered and used as a nourishing hair cleanser)
Take a steamer… (I use Idli maker, or even a pressure cooker, with the steam outlet open). Pour enough water to last 15 minutes, place a separator on the bottom and fill up with the Aonvla berries.
Put on the gas stove, with full flame. When the steam build ups, put the flame on medium and let it steam for 10-12 minutes. (Depends upon the size & maturity of the fruit).
After 10 minutes, check the fruit with a sharp knife. If it enters smoothly, till the seed, time to take it off the stove. Otherwise, give it a little more time.
Drain the water. (Save it, if you are keen gardener. Mix it with a bucket of water and wash your precious houseplants with the mix. It is an amazing plant conditioner).
Allow the steamed fruit to cool down only a little bit, to a tolerable temperature, and then de-seed it. The Aonvla fruit will automatically separate into clefts.
Mix the salt, Ajwain, Saunth and the sugar free sweetener powder with the de-seeded Aonvla fruit thoroughly.
Place this mix in a glass mason jar, for three to four days. The mix will release a lot of moisture initially. Make sure to agitate the jar thoroughly for 4-5 times every day.
After this period, you’ll notice that the most of the moisture gets re-absorbed by the fruit.
After 4 days, spread out this mix on a cloth/ plain paper sheet, to dry out in partial shade. Keep these pieces moving a little manually every day, for even drying/airing & to prevent them from sticking to the surface.
It should take another 3 to 4 days before this candy is dry enough to be stored for future use.
Try and store them in glass mason jars, lined at the bottom with tissue paper napkins. You can place one on the top as well. This helps in absorbing any residual moisture, thus preventing the candy from spoiling.
