Atar Payesh|| Sitaphal Kheer
Rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, this tropical fruit helps improve immunity, reduce inflammation, and promote eye and heart health. Custard apple, also known as ata in Bengali and sitaphal in Hindi is loaded with antioxidants.
Atar payesh is an age old preparation of Bengali cuisine. Ata pulp, thrown in cardamom flavored concentrated milk, this dessert is effortless and satiates one’s craving for a sugar rush.
Custard apple or ata or seetaphal being a very sweet fruit, very less amount of white sugar is needed. Additionally, you can easily vary the amount of sugar according to your choice. This is a dessert which can be consumed even by weight watchers. Oh well! I say this because as I have mentioned you earlier that I am absolutely focussed on my fitness currently and I had a full bowl of this payesh.
This is that time of the year, when a good produce of sitaphal is available. And if you are looking for more recipes with ata, I have also written atar ice-cream on the blog.
Atar Payesh
Ingredients
- 2 litres of milk
- 3 custard apple
- 2 tablespoons of sugar or as needed
- 5-6 cardamom pods
- 8-10 pistachios ground or slivered
Instructions
- Take the milk in a thick bottomed vessel and take the milk in it. Bring the milk to boil.
- Make a powder of the cardamom and add the powder to the boiling milk.
- On a medium low flame reduce the milk to about ½ to ⅓ of its volume. Continuously stir the milk to avoid scorching of the milk at the bottom of the pan.
- Meanwhile, remove the skin of the custard apple and take the pulp in a strainer. With small a whisk, rub the pulp in the strainer. This helps to remove the seeds from the pulp.
- Do not discard the pulp/flesh that remains in the strainer. We will use everything in the kheer.
- Add sugar to the milk.
- As the milk reduces, turn off the flame and let the milk cool a bit.
- Add all of the pulp, one which came out of the strainer as well as one that remained on the strainer. Mix properly.
- Garnish with pistachios and serve.
Notes
- My custard apple was very sweet. Therefore, no more than 2 tablespoon of sugar was needed. You can vary the amount accordingly.
